timbre

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The combination of qualities of a sound that distinguishes it from other sounds of the same pitch and volume.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Same as timbe.
2. n. An old spelling of timber, timber, timber.
3. n. A tambourine; a timbrel.
4. To play the timbrel.
5. 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

1. n. The quality of a sound independent of its pitch and volume.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. See 1st timber.
2. n. The crest on a coat of arms.
3. n. The quality or tone distinguishing voices or instruments; tone color; clang tint; See Tone, and Partial tones, under Partial.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound)