Turntablist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A performer who manipulates sounds and creates music using vinyl records on a turntable
2. An artist skilled in the practice of mixing and scratching records to produce new audio experiences
3. Someone involved in the art of DJing, combining elements of hip-hop and electronic music through skilled record manipulation

Etymology: The word "turntablist" is a plain compound: "turntable" with the suffix "-ist" attached. The suffix has a long pedigree. It goes back to ancient Greek "-istēs," which named a person who practised or followed something, and it reached English by way of Latin "-ista" and Old French "-iste," arriving in Middle English as "-ist." English has used it for centuries to build names for practitioners, from "pianist" to "novelist." The first half of the word is the machine itself. A turntable is the rotating platform that spins a vinyl record, and the word was formed in English from "turn" and "table." Put the two together and you get a name for someone whose craft is the turntable. The sense is a practical one: a turntablist works the turntable as an instrument, cueing, looping and scratching records to build a new soundtrack out of old ones.

Synonyms: DJ, disc jockey, mixmaster, music mixer, turntable artist