Adjacent Words

Timbre definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TIM'BRE,n. A crest on a coat of arms. It ought to be written timber.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound); "the timbre of her soprano was rich and lovely"; "the muffled tones of the broken bell summoned them to meet" [syn: timbre, timber, quality, tone]

Merriam Webster's

also timber noun Etymology: French, from Middle French, bell struck by a hammer, from Old French, drum, from Middle Greek tymbanon kettledrum, from Greek tympanon — more at tympanum Date: 1845 the quality given to a sound by its overtones: as a. the resonance by which the ear recognizes and identifies a voiced speech sound b. the quality of tone distinctive of a particular singing voice or musical instrument • timbral adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. the distinctive character of a musical sound or voice apart from its pitch and intensity. Etymology: F f. Rmc f. med.Gk timbanon f. Gk tumpanon drum

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Timber Tim"ber, n. [Probably the same word as timber sort of wood; cf. Sw. timber, LG. timmer, MHG. zimber, G. zimmer, F. timbre, LL. timbrium. Cf. Timmer.] (Com.) A certain quantity of fur skins, as of martens, ermines, sables, etc., packed between boards; being in some cases forty skins, in others one hundred and twenty; -- called also timmer. [Written also timbre.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Timber Tim"ber, n. [F. timbre. See Timbre.] (Her.) The crest on a coat of arms. [Written also timbre.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Timbre Tim"bre, n. See 1st Timber.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Timbre Tim"bre, n. [F., a bell to be struck with a hammer, sound, tone, stamp, crest, in OF., a timbrel. Cf. Timbrel.] 1. (Her.) The crest on a coat of arms. 2. (Mus.) The quality or tone distinguishing voices or instruments; tone color; clang tint; as, the timbre of the voice; the timbre of a violin. See Tone, and Partial tones, under Partial.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(timbres) The timbre of someone's voice or of a musical instrument is the particular quality of sound that it has. (FORMAL) His voice had a deep timbre... The timbre of the violin is far richer than that of the mouth organ. N-COUNT: usu sing, oft N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. (Mus.) Quality (of tone).

Moby Thesaurus

Klangfarbe, clang color, color, coloring, manner of speaking, mode of expression, mood, resonance, spirit, tonality, tone, tone color, tone of voice, tone quality, voce, voice, voice qualifier, voice quality, way of saying