Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

didgeridoo

/ˌdɪd͡ʒ.əɹ.iˈduː/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.24 in modern English

Syllables
did-ger-i-doo
IPA
/ˌdɪd͡ʒ.əɹ.iˈduː/
14
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A musical instrument, endemic to the Top End of Australia, consisting of a long hollowed-out log which, when blown into, produces a low, deep mesmerising drone with sweeping rhythms.

verb

To play the digeridoo.

Etymology

Likely onomatopoeic in reference to the sound made by the instrument, or the words spoken into the instrument to play it. The earliest known description of the instrument was in 1829 by Captain Collet Barker, in which it was described as making the sound didoggerry whoan. In 2002, Lonergan proposed that the term could derive from Irish dúdaire dubh (“black hummer”) or Scottish Gaelic dùdaire dùth (“native piper”), though the latter seems to be coincidental, since there is no corroborating evidence and the terms would refer to the player (rather than the instrument itself).

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Music.

Inflected Forms

didgeridoos (plural) didjeridu (alternative) didjeridoo (alternative) digeridoo (alternative) didgeridoos (present, singular) didgeridooing (participle, present) didgeridooed (participle, past) didgeridooed (past)

Derived Forms

didgeridooist dollarydoo

Synonyms

didge yidaki

Questions

How do you pronounce didgeridoo?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˌdɪd͡ʒ.əɹ.iˈduː/.
What does didgeridoo mean?
A musical instrument, endemic to the Top End of Australia, consisting of a long hollowed-out log which, when blown into, produces a low, deep mesmerising drone with sweeping rhythms.
Where does didgeridoo come from?
Likely onomatopoeic in reference to the sound made by the instrument, or the words spoken into the instrument to play it. The earliest known description of the instrument was in 1829 by Captain Collet Barker, in which it was described as making the sound didoggerry whoan. In 2002, Lonergan proposed that the term could derive from Irish dúdaire dubh (“black hummer”) or Scottish Gaelic dùdaire dùth (“native piper”), though the latter seems to be coincidental, since there is no corroborating evidence and the terms would refer to the player (rather than the instrument itself).

How to pronounce didgeridoo

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “didgeridoo”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌdɪd͡ʒ.əɹ.iˈduː/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “didgeridoo”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “didgeridoo” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.