bassoon
noun
- woodwind instrument
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /bəˈsuːn/ / /bəˈsun/
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree French bassonbor. English bassoon Borrowed from French basson.
- A musical instrument in the woodwind family, having a double reed and playing in the tenor and bass ranges.
“Higher and higher every day, / Till over the mast at noon— / The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, / For he heard the loud bassoon.”
“The most convenient and natural order is, perhaps, the following: the upper staff may have the flute-part, because it has the highest notes, and, therefore, requires most room above the staff; then follow the parts for the hautboys, clarinets, horns, bassoons, tromboni, trumpets, and drums; the upper half of the page thus containing the wind-instruments: the lower half belongs to the violins, viola, voices, violoncello, and double base.”
verb
Etymology: Etymology tree French bassonbor. English bassoon Borrowed from French basson.
- To play the bassoon.
- To make a bassoon-like sound.