cymbal means A concave plate of metal, usually brass or bronze, that produces a sharp, ringing sound when struck: played either in pairs, by striking them together, or singly by striking with a drumstick or the like. It carries an Arena rating of 1560, earned across 10 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, cymbal ranks #461 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #1,480 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #3,470 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #3,515 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
cymbal is pronounced /ˈsɪmbəl/.
Why “cymbal” is a great word
A concave plate of brass or bronze that produces a sharp, ringing sound when struck, either in pairs or singly. From Middle English cymbal, from Old English cimbal and Old French cimbale, both from Latin cymbalum, from Ancient Greek κύμβαλον (kúmbalon, "cymbal"), from κύμβη (kúmbē, "bowl"). Unlike a chime, which is tuned for melody, or a gong, whose deep voice carries a defined pitch, the cymbal is untuned agitation, a sustained and shivering crash. It is the explosive spray of light at the climax of a crescendo, the furious hiss of a sudden downpour on a tin roof, and the violent, bright dissolution of a note into a shower of metallic dust—the sound of energy being shattered into a thousand ringing fragments.
Etymology
From Middle English cymbal, from Old English cimbal, cimbala and Old French cimbale, both from Latin cymbalum (“cymbal”), from Ancient Greek κύμβαλον (kúmbalon), from κύμβη (kúmbē, “bowl”). See also chime.
noun
- A concave plate of metal, usually brass or bronze, that produces a sharp, ringing sound when struck: played either in pairs, by striking them together, or singly by striking with a drumstick or the like.e.g.“The trumpets, sackbuts, psalteries and fifes,
Tabours and cymbals and the shouting Romans,
Make the sun dance.” — c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] B
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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