Sacbuts

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A historical brass instrument that resembles a trombone but has a wider bell and a smaller bore; it is commonly associated with Renaissance music and played with a slide mechanism; this instrument is noted for its rich and mellow sound in ensembles
2. An early form of trombone, equipped with a slide for pitch variation, which was popular in the Renaissance period and often used in sacred and secular music; it features a distinctive mellow tone and was integral to orchestras of its time
3. A type of slide brass instrument originating from the early modern era, related to the modern trombone, characterized by a broader bell for producing a smooth, sonorous tone often utilized in musical consorts during the Renaissance

Etymology: "Sacbuts" is simply the plural of "sacbut," so the story belongs to the singular. The word is an English form of the French "saquebute," which was used for an early slide brass instrument, and its literal sense is the key to the name. The French word was built from "saquer," meaning to pull or draw, and "bouter," meaning to thrust or push, which describes exactly what the player does when moving the slide back and forth. The instrument was therefore named for the action of its own mechanism. The English spelling "sacbut" shows the word came into English by a route that flattened the French form, leaving a shape that looks more Latinate than its origin. Readers who know the modern trombone may be surprised that its ancestor carried a name so literal, one that described the gesture of the player's arm rather than the instrument's shape or sound.