Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A ten-stringed mandolin of Andean regions with a sound box traditionally fashioned from the shell of an armadillo or tortoise, now also made of wood.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun music A South American stringed instrument, rather like a small guitar, traditionally made from the shell of an armadillo

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[American Spanish, from charanga, charanga; see charanga.]

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Examples

  • Turns out it's a kind of South American lute called a charango (here's a clip of her explaining it).

    Chicago Reader 2010

  • A charango and a quena provided the chorus and even the Afro-Bolivian saya provided their song, one of pity mixed with resignation.

    Global Voices in English » Bolivia: Farewell to Aymara Hip Hop Artist Abraham Bojorquez 2009

  • Un charango y una quena hicieron de coro y también los de la Saya Afroboliviana pusieron su canto, uno muy lastimero mezclado con resignación.

    Global Voices in English » Bolivia: Farewell to Aymara Hip Hop Artist Abraham Bojorquez 2009

  • Already I can hear the sound of the zampoñas and the charango playing a traditional Andean melody and the lady on the street corner in Sucre announcing the sale of the “Corrrrrrrrrrrrreo”, the local daily newspaper.

    ¡Bueno, che! « Wanderings 2008

  • As the performance at Rockwood continued, Ms. Arnalds traded her guitar for a charango, a small stringed instrument from South America with a back formed from the shell of an armadillo.

    Meet Iceland's Other Songstress Margaret Lough 2010

  • So they use folk instruments, including the charango – a sort of South American ukulele that they used to make out of armadillo shells (not MMM, no, that would also be weird and possibly illegal) – and they write folk melodies.

    Melodica, Melody + Me (No 844) 2010

  • He seemed happy enough to leave the spotlight on Ms. Arnalds, but she was quick to acknowledge his friendship, mentoring and instruments the guitar and charango she used both belong to him.

    Meet Iceland's Other Songstress Margaret Lough 2010

  • Ozo's arsenal includes several Latin American string instruments (jarana, charango, tres), an Indian tabla and a Persian piano-like celeste.

    Album review: Ozomatli, "Fire Away" 2010

  • Ozo's arsenal includes several Latin American string instruments (jarana, charango, tres), an Indian tabla and a Persian piano-like celeste.

    Album review: Ozomatli's 'Fire Away' 2010

  • In the wake of a tragic tryst, an insistent charango (a small guitar-like instrument traditionally made with an armadillo shell) accents her pining "Despedida" ( "Farewell").

    Soundtracks: Shakira 2007

Comments

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  • "Among his charges: two bookcases filled with real and fake books; twelve banquet chairs; three candelabra; a mesh of branches that entangles Touchstone; a wicker horse; a fake deer carcass; a stuffed boar; red grape juice that doubles as wine; three tins of lychee nuts, for Gloucester's eyeballs; a bicycle and an iPod for Romeo (some liberties are taken with time period); twelve bike pumps; six Maglites; a wheelbarrow; a throne; eight skull masks; a bouquet of fake roses; a wreath with removable plastic flowers; three black parasols; a pipe for Juliet's nurse; a box of Lion chocolate bars ("We bought them in England, 'cause we weren't sure if we could get them out here," Wimperis said); a glass ashtray lined with K-Y Jelly ("If it gets knocked over, it's better than using water"); walkie-talkies; forty litres of stage blood ("It's quite sugary—like what you use to make candy floss"); a gold-on-black invitation to the Capulets' party; a metal claw with a protruding blade (for Tybalt); four short javelins and five tall ones; three fake crossbows; approximately a hundred swords and daggers (most swords are custom-made to suit the height and weight of a particular actor, and the dents from jousting are filed down between shows); ten rifles with bayonets, for the French Army in "King Lear"; ten without bayonets, for the British; the bloodied head of Decius Brutus; a box of love poems, which drop from the ceiling in "As You Like It" ("They've all been fireproofed"); one Enfield revolver; three Webley revolvers; three AK-56 assault rifles ("These are mine. I'm joking!"); four bags of plastic snow; a brace of fake pheasants; raisins for Audrey; a charango "

    - "Checklist" by Michael Schulman, p 20 of the August 8, 2011 issue of the New Yorker

    August 30, 2011