bassoon
/bəˈsun/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.53 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A musical instrument in the woodwind family, having a double reed and playing in the tenor and bass ranges.
verb
To play the bassoon.
Example Sentences
- "Higher and higher every day, / Till over the mast at noon— / The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, / For he heard the loud bassoon."
- "The most convenient and natural order is, perhaps, the following: the upper staff may have the flute-part, because it has the highest notes, and, therefore, requires most room above the staff; then follow the parts for the hautboys, clarinets, horns, bassoons, tromboni, trumpets, and drums; the upper half of the page thus containing the wind-instruments: the lower half belongs to the violins, viola, voices, violoncello, and double base."
- "After another alternation of the two elements, there is a more playful episode, in which flute and bassoon take up the first element, with swooping glissando on the ondes Martenot."
Etymology
Borrowed from French basson.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /bəˈsun/
- British English: /bəˈsuːn/
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Music.