Dulcimer

//ˈdʌl.sɪ.mɚ// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A stringed instrument, with strings stretched across a sounding board, usually trapezoidal, played by plucking on the strings (traditionally with a quill) or by tapping on them (in the case of the hammer dulcimers).

    "A damsel with a dulcimer / In a vision once I saw: / It was an Abyssinian maid / And on her dulcimer she played, / Singing of Mount Abora."

  2. 2
    a trapezoidal zither whose metal strings are struck with light hammers wordnet
  3. 3
    a stringed instrument used in American folk music; an elliptical body and a fretted fingerboard and three strings wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
harp

Example

More examples

"I can't play the dulcimer as well as I used to."

Etymology

From Old French doulcemelle, probably from Latin dulce melos (“sweet song”), from Ancient Greek μέλος (mélos, “melody, song”).

Related phrases

Appalachian dulcimerbanjo dulcimerbowed dulcimerelectric dulcimerhammer dulcimerhammered dulcimersounding board

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.