bassoon

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a large double-reed woodwind instrument with a long folded tube, typically playing in the tenor and bass registers

   The bassoon introduced the melody with a dry, resonant tone.

2. 2
   noun

   a bassoon player or the bassoon part of an orchestra, by metonymy

   The principal bassoon answered the oboe's phrase.

Borrowed from French basson, from Italian bassone, an augmentative of basso, 'bass or low.' The name refers to the instrument's low register; the modern bassoon developed from earlier folded-bore double-reed instruments such as the dulcian.

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