trombone

See also: Trombone and tromboné

English

A tenor trombone

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian trombone, from tromba (“trumpet”) +‎ -one (augmentative), literally “large trumpet”. The telecommunications sense alludes to the shape of the musical instrument.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌtɹɒmˈbəʊn/, /tɹəmˈbəʊn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌtɹɑmˈboʊn/, /tɹəmˈboʊn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: (UK) -əʊn, (US) -oʊn

Noun

trombone (plural trombones or tromboni)

1. A musical instrument in the brass family, having a cylindrical bore, and usually a sliding tube (but sometimes piston valves, and rarely both). Most often refers to the tenor trombone, which is the most common type of trombone and has a fundamental tone of B♭ˌ (contra B♭).

   Jim plays the trombone very well.

   This trombone is very expensive.

2. The common European bittern.
3. (film, television) A kind of extendable support for attaching lighting elements to a set.
   • 1983, Alan Wurtzel, Television Production, page 131:

     The trombone […] permits an instrument to be positioned over a studio set wall, enabling the set wall to support the weight of the instrument.

   • 2013, Harry Box, Set Lighting Technician's Handbook, page 480:

     The two secondary controls are the trombone handle and the focus knob.

Derived terms

• superbone
• tromboner
• tromboning
• trombonist

 

Compound words

• alto trombone
• bass trombone
• double trombone
• rusty trombone
• sad trombone
• slide trombone
• tenor trombone
• trombone-player
• valide trombone
• valve trombone

 

Translations

a musical instrument in the brass family

• Afrikaans: tromboon
• Arabic: مُتَرَدِّدَة (mutaraddida), تْرُومْبُون (trūmbūn)
• Armenian: տրոմբոն (hy) (trombon)
• Basque: tronboi
• Belarusian: трамбо́н m (trambón)
• Bulgarian: тромбо́н m (trombón)
• Burmese: ထရွမ်းဗုန်း (hta.rwam:bun:)
• Catalan: trombó (ca) m
• Central Melanau: trombon
• Cherokee: ᎦᏅᏌᏁᏍᏗ ᏗᏤᎷᎩᏍᏗ (ganvsanesdi ditselugisdi), ᎦᎾᏙᏅᎩᏍᏗ (ganadonvgisdi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 長號／长号 (zh) (chánghào)

• Czech: trombón m, pozoun (cs) m
• Danish: basun c
• Dutch: trombone (nl) c
• Esperanto: trombono
• Estonian: tromboon
• Faroese: basún f, basúna f
• Finnish: pasuuna (fi), vetopasuuna (fi)
• French: trombone (fr) m
• Galician: trombón (gl) m
• Georgian: ტრომბონი (ṭromboni)
• German: Posaune (de) f
• Greek: τρομπόνι (el) n (trompóni)
• Hawaiian: pū puhi uai
• Hebrew: טרומבון (he) (trombone)
• Hungarian: harsona (hu), pozan (hu)
• Icelandic: básúna (is) f
• Ido: trombono (io)
• Indonesian: trombon (id)
• Irish: trombón m
• Italian: trombone (it) m
• Japanese: トロンボーン (ja) (toronbōn)
• Javanese: trombon
• Kabiyé: kɩgbɩtɩnaʋ
• Kashubian: puzon m
• Kazakh: тромбон (trombon)
• Korean: 트롬본 (teurombon)
• Latvian: trombrons m, bazūne
• Lithuanian: trombonas (lt) m
• Low German:

  Dutch Low Saxon: trombone, skoeftrompet

• Luxembourgish: Trombone f, Posaun f, Trombonn f
• Macedonian: тромбон m (trombon)
• Malay: trombon (ms)
• Malayalam: ട്രോംബോൺ (ṭrōmbōṇ)
• Maori: pūkumekume, pūhōkai
• Marathi: ट्रॉम्बोन (ṭrŏmbon)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: trombone (no) m

  Nynorsk: trombone m

• Occitan: trombon m
• Persian: ترومبون (fa)
• Plautdietsch: Posaun f
• Polish: puzon (pl) m
• Portuguese: trombone (pt) m
• Quechua: trumpun
• Romanian: trombon (ro) n
• Russian: тромбо́н (ru) m (trombón)
• Saterland Frisian: Posaune
• Scottish Gaelic: trombon m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: тромбон m

  Roman: trombon (sh) m

• Slovak: trombón m, pozauna f
• Slovene: pozavna (sl) f
• Spanish: trombón m
• Swahili: tromboni
• Swedish: trombon (sv) c
• Tagalog: trombon
• Tamil: துரம்போன் (turampōṉ)
• Thai: ทรอมโบน (th) (trɔm-boon)
• Turkish: trombon (tr)
• Ukrainian: тромбо́н (uk) m (trombón)
• Welsh: trombôn
• West Frisian: tromboane

Verb

trombone (third-person singular simple present trombones, present participle tromboning, simple past and past participle tromboned)

1. (telecommunications) To transmit a signal or data back to a central switching point before sending it out to its destination.
2. (film, slang, transitive) To extend and retract (the zoom lens); to use it too enthusiastically.
   • 2015, Kathryn Ramey, Experimental Filmmaking: Break the Machine, page 357:

     […] do things wrong (like rotating the lens turret while shooting or backwinding and doing multiple passes on the same strip of film or doing in-camera fades with the variable shutter or tromboning a zoom lens like a teenager on acid, etc., etc., etc.) […]

   • 2014, Henry K. Miller, The Essential Raymond Durgnat, page 71:

     He recalls (email to editor, 2 December 2012) that Durgnat 'shouted out' in response to his 'tromboning' the zoom-lens at the film's 1967 London Film Festival screening: […]

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /trɔmˈbɔːnə/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

trombone c (plural trombones)

1. (music) trombone

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian trombone.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʁɔ̃.bɔn/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

trombone m (plural trombones)

1. (music) trombone
2. paper clip

Verb

trombone

1. inflection of tromboner:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “trombone”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Etymology

From tromba (“trumpet”) +‎ -one (augmentative suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tromˈbo.ne/
• Rhymes: -one
• Hyphenation: trom‧bó‧ne

Noun

trombone m (plural tromboni)

1. (music) trombone
2. (by extension) trombonist

   Synonym: trombonista

3. (figurative) an annoying and boring person, especially if arrogant, old or moralist
4. (historical) arquebuse

   Synonym: archibugio

5. a type of boot
6. wild daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus)
7. Synonym of tarabuso

Derived terms

• strombonare
• trombonata
• trombonesco
• trombonista

 

Descendants

• → English: trombone
• → Russian: тромбо́н (trombón) (see there for further descendants)
• → Spanish: trombón (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• trombone in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

trombone m (definite singular trombonen, indefinite plural tromboner, definite plural trombonene)

1. (music) a trombone

   Synonym: trekkbasun

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

trombone m (definite singular trombonen, indefinite plural trombonar, definite plural trombonane)

1. (music) a trombone

   Synonym: trekkbasun

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian trombone.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /tɾõˈbo.ni/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /tɾõˈbo.ni/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /tɾõˈbo.ne/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tɾõˈbɔ.nɨ/

• Hyphenation: trom‧bo‧ne
• Rhymes: -oni

Noun

trombone m (plural trombones)

1. (music) trombone (a musical instrument in the brass family)