Timbre

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈtæmbɹə/

Definitions

1. The unique color or quality of a sound that sets it apart from others is essential in music and voice
2. The distinctive quality of a sound that differentiates it from other sounds helps in identifying instruments and voices
3. The characteristic quality of a sound that allows one to identify its source or nature

Etymology: Ancient Greek "tympanon" meant a drum, and a drum-like frame or tambourine, and the word's journey to English runs through a series of instruments. Latin took it as "tympanum," which kept the drum sense and also gave us the anatomical eardrum. Through a parallel line of descent, French produced "timbre," originally a word for a bell, and from there it came to mean the distinctive quality of a sound, which is why a voice or violin can be described by its timbre even when pitch and loudness are the same. The word is a doublet, meaning it arrived in English by more than one route. "Tympanum," "timpani," "timbal," and "tymbal" all descend from the same Greek root, each picking up a different instrumental or architectural meaning as it passed through Latin, Italian, and French. The timbre sense is the one that drifted furthest from the drum, shifting from a physical object that rang to the quality of the ringing itself.

Synonyms: tone, quality