Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Shawm
Shawm
,Noun.
[OE.
shalmie
, OF. chalemie
; cf. F. chalumeau
shawm, chaume
haulm, stalk; all fr. L. calamus
a reed, reed pipe. See Haulm
, and cf. Calumet
.] (Mus.)
A wind instrument of music, formerly in use, supposed to have resembled either the clarinet or the hautboy in form.
[Written also
shalm
, shaum
.] Otway.
Even from the shrillest
shaum
unto the cornamute. Drayton.
Webster 1828 Edition
Shawm
SHAWM
,Definition 2024
shawm
shawm
English
Noun
shawm (plural shawms)
- A mediaeval double-reed wind instrument with a conical wooden body.
- 1985: There are four flutes, a harp of twenty strings, a mournful shawm, and a number of drums of oxhide, some to be struck, others spanked. — Anthony Burgess, Kingdom of the Wicked
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
wind instrument