timbre
English
WOTD – 5 January 2012
Etymology
From French timbre, ultimately from Ancient Greek τύμπανον (túmpanon, “drum”). Doublet of tympanum.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtæmbə/, /tɛ̃br(ə)/[1]
- (General American) enPR: tăm'bər, tĭm'bər, IPA(key): /ˈtæm.bɚ/, /ˈtɪm.bɚ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Homophone: timber (only for the pronunciation that has an /ɪ/ sound)
- Rhymes: -æmbə(ɹ), -ɪmbə(ɹ)
Noun
timbre (countable and uncountable, plural timbres)
- The quality of a sound independent of its pitch and volume.
- 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 7, in The Whisperer in Darkness:
- It was a hard whisper to catch at first, since the grey moustache concealed all movements of the lips, and something in its timbre disturbed me greatly; but by concentrating my attention I could soon make out its purport surprisingly well.
-
- The pitch of a sound as heard by the ear, described relative to its absolute pitch.
- When someone speaks after inhaling helium, his voice has a higher timbre. With sulfur hexafluoride, the result is a lower timbre.
- (heraldry) The crest on a coat of arms.
Translations
quality of a sound independent of its pitch and volume
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References
- The Chambers Dictionary, 9th Ed., 2003
Bikol Central
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: tim‧bre
- IPA(key): /ˈtimbɾe/
Derived terms
- magtimbre
- timbrehan
Catalan
Further reading
- “timbre” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
French
Etymology
From Old French timbre, via Byzantine Greek, from Ancient Greek τύμπανον (túmpanon, “drum”). Less likely a direct descendant of Latin tympanum. Doublet of tympan.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tɛ̃bʁ/
Audio (file)
Noun
timbre m (plural timbres)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “timbre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “timbre”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Occitan
Pronunciation
Audio (Béarn) (file)
Noun
timbre m (plural timbres)
- postage stamp
- Synonym: sagèl
- timbre (quality of a sound independent of its pitch and volume)
Old French
Portuguese
Noun
timbre m (plural timbres)
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
timbre
- inflection of timbrar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtimbɾe/ [ˈt̪ĩm.bɾe]
- Rhymes: -imbɾe
- Syllabification: tim‧bre
Etymology 1
From French timbre (“quality of a sound; sound of a bell”), from Old French timbre (“bell without a clapper, drum”), via Byzantine Greek from Ancient Greek τύμπανον (túmpanon, “drum”). Doublet of tímpano.
Noun
timbre m (plural timbres)
Hyponyms
- timbre fiscal (“revenue stamp, fiscal stamp”)
Verb
timbre
- inflection of timbrar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
Further reading
- “timbre”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
timbre (acústica) on the Spanish Wikipedia.Wikipedia es
timbre (canto) on the Spanish Wikipedia.Wikipedia es
Swedish
Tagalog
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: tim‧bre
- IPA(key): /ˈtimbɾe/, [ˈtim.bɾe]
Noun
timbre
- buzzer; electric bell (especially of a door)
- push button of a buzzer or electric bell
- act of pushing a buzzer
- Synonym: pagtimbre
- seal; stamp (tool)
- Synonyms: selyo, panatak, pantatak
- impression made by a sealing machine
- Synonym: tatak
- (figurative, colloquial) act of alerting someone about something (especially in order to avoid being caught doing something wrong)
Derived terms
- magtimbre
- pagkatimbre
- pagtimbre
- timbrehan
- timbrehin
- tumimbre
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