Krumhorn

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A double-reed instrument notable for its curved design and commonly associated with Renaissance musical ensembles
2. This historical woodwind features a unique shape and sound, primarily used during the late Middle Ages in various musical settings
3. A type of wind instrument with a distinctive curved body that produces sound through a double reed, commonly utilized in Renaissance music ensembles

Etymology: The krumhorn is named for its shape: German "Krumm" means "crooked" and "Horn" means "horn", so the name simply describes a crooked horn. The instrument is a double-reed woodwind whose bore is bent back on itself near the bottom, giving it a hooked profile that looks like a shepherd's crook or a curled animal horn. The word is a doublet of "cromorna", the Latinised form of the same name, so English took the German-derived term and the Latin one arrived from the same source by a different route. Both trace back to the instrument's German identity, not to any older instrument with the same name.