Percussionist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A musician who plays instruments struck with mallets, sticks, or hands to produce sound
2. A musical artist who specializes in playing instruments that are meant to be hit, scraped, or shaken to create sound and rhythm
3. A performer skilled in playing instruments that produce sound through being struck, shaken, or scraped is known for their rhythmic contributions to music

Etymology: Percussion instruments are, in a sense, defined by the blow: the word "percussion" comes from Latin "percussio," meaning a striking or beating, built from "percutere," to strike through. A percussionist, then, is literally someone who specializes in striking. The source lists the word as formed simply from "percussion" plus the suffix "-ist." That suffix has a long pedigree of its own. It passed from Ancient Greek "-istēs," used to name a person who practises or follows something, into Latin "-ista," then through Old French "-iste," and reached English as "-ist" in Middle English. So the word stacks two layers of inheritance: a Latin noun for the act of striking, and a Greek-derived agent ending that turns the act into a profession.

Synonyms: drummer, timpanist, marimba player