Organologist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A specialist who studies musical instruments including their history, construction, and classification
2. An expert understanding the design, cultural significance, and evolution of instruments used for musical performance
3. A scholar focused on analyzing the characteristics, origin, and types of devices that produce sound for artistic expression

Etymology: "Organologist" is built from "organo-", a combining form meaning "instrument" or "organ" in the broad sense of a tool or implement, and the suffix "-logist", denoting a person who studies or specialises in a field. Together they name someone who studies musical instruments, their construction, classification and history. The first element deserves a second look, because "organ" has travelled a long way from its root. The Greek "organon" meant a tool or instrument of any kind, and only later narrowed in English to the pipe instrument most people now picture. The musical sense of "organ" is therefore a specialisation of the same older idea that gives us "organology" in its wider meaning of instrument study.

Synonyms: instrument expert, musical instrument specialist, organologist, musicologist, organ expert