Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The combination of qualities of a sound that distinguishes it from other sounds of the same pitch and volume.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Same as timbe.
- n. An old spelling of timber, timber, timber.
- n. A tambourine; a timbrel.
- To play the timbrel.
- n. In acoustics, that characteristic quality of sounds produced from some particular source, as from an instrument or a voice, by which they are distinguished from sounds from other sources, as from other instruments or other voices; quality; tone-color. As an essential characteristic of all sounds, timbre is coordinate with pitch and force. It is physically dependent on the form of the vibrations by which the sound is produced—a simple vibration producing a simple and comparatively characterless sound, and a complex vibration producing a sound of decided individuality. Complex vibrations are due to the conjunction at once of two or more simple vibrations, so that complex tones are really composed of two or more partial tones or harmonics. Not only do instruments and voices have a peculiar timbre by which they may be recognized, but their timbre may be varied considerably by varying the method of sound-production.
Wiktionary
- n. The quality of a sound independent of its pitch and volume.
- n. heraldry The crest on a coat of arms.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. See 1st timber.
- n. (Her.) The crest on a coat of arms.
- n. (Mus.) The quality or tone distinguishing voices or instruments; tone color; clang tint; See Tone, and Partial tones, under Partial.
WordNet 3.0
- n. (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound)
Etymologies
- French, a bell to be struck with a hammer, sound, tone, stamp, crest, in Old French, a timbrel. Compare timbrel. (Wiktionary)
- French, from Old French, drum, clapperless bell, probably from Medieval Greek *timbanon, drum, from Greek tumpanon, kettledrum. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Music is niocely mathematical, both in timbre, chords, and the time series used.”
“I think it is what they call the timbre that is different.”
“On her debut, the aptly-titled Solo (released through Interscope Digital Distribution), increasingly accomplished songwriting connects through her emotive, lithe-yet-lived-in timbre.”
Twilight Lexicon » Former Bella Cullen Project Singer Releases CD
“Human words, not a howl, but the timbre was the same.”
YA BOOK CLUB: SHIVER – CHAPTERS 11-13 | Open Society Book Club Discussions and Reviews
“The orchestra played the pulsing chords elegantly, with electronic synthesizer touches recalling the timbre of a glass harmonica.”
“The timbre is the authoritative essence of Theatrical Knight, one that lent RSC gravitas to Stewart's reign as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise, before he left Hollywood seven years ago to kickstart a late-flourishing classical-theatre phase.”
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph
“I don't have an effing thing to say about the occasion," grumbled Simmons, in his signature timbre, which is akin to whooshing gravel across a metal flatbed.”
“Fidelity is lacking and the timbre is a bit bright overall.”
“A certain dark, breathy reediness in the long lines of the third movement recalled the timbre of the accordion.”
“The last for the present article is timbre, which is the peculiar sound quality of each instrument.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘timbre’.
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Muse's tacet ,to learn
Music brings silence's to raging thoughts and temperament , calm, as it is our object of definite purpose.
tacet, cadence, tempo, treble clef, penultimate, lexicon, origin, orchestra, kantele, magus, eros, coalesce and 248 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 more...
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MUSIC - jazz
Afro, habanera, pentatonic scale, bop, bebop, jazz, cool jazz, pentatonic, malignment, music genre, jazz musician, syncopate and 437 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2057 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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The Request Line
This is the place to add words you'd like Charles Harrington Elster to pronounce for you!
swingeing, affiant, dahlia, hydrangea, re, clematis, Nabokov, casu marzu, schadenfreudgeon, nefarious, mewl, manteion and 170 more...
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MUSIC - ALL TERMS
With focus on non-classical styles, but not excluding terms of the latter.
banjo, accompaniment, acoustic bass, bass guitar, bass clef, ground, brass, cornet, Mute, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, arrangement and 866 more...
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Philosophic , etymology
every major discipline has uniquely developed esoteric nomenclature to facilitate interdisciplinary dissemination
quale , qualia, elegy, tacet, lexicon, annunciate, caste, eros, contrive, purlicue, irony, venacular, dilapidate and 569 more...
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Public List: Lift Every Voice
Vocal techniques.
word shaping, backphrasing, vibrato, scat, coloratura, rubato, falsetto, death growl, overtone singing, harmonic singing, yodeling, ululation and 17 more...
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This Boy's Life list 2
treacly, sepulchral, unutterable, malicious, vigilance, Aryan, lackey, plausible, emaciated, cavernous, perspicacity, scabrous and 13 more...
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pretentious words i have used or hope...
a list of pretentious words i have used or hope to use when discussing operas because they make me feel like i am considerably more knowledgeable about opera than i actually am.
pulchritudinous, divina, libretto, diegetic, syncretism, mezzo-soprano, contralto, coloratura, tenor, baritone, bass-baritone, bass and 42 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
thunderfuck, incredible, merp, sara, flopparoo, smother, fugly, buer, plum, canny, nefelibata, cuntbucket and 2455 more... -
ICE
quincunx, adoxography, panjundrum, breloque, surd, scripturient, rousant, favrile, embouchure, aquarelle, griffonage, sussultatory and 491 more...
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cindywrites's Words
chiaroscuro, mollycoddle, feckless, evocative, provocative, invocation, beckon, allay, becalm, console, lull, soothe and 479 more...
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If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-...
Words that have been used as baby names, including virtue names, nature names, place names, etc.
The title is an actual name given to a Puritan boy in the 17th century.faith, hope, grace, charity, chastity, prudence, patience, temperance, river, phoenix, stone, violet and 455 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for timbre.

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