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trumpet

Etymology and origin of the English word trumpet

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈtɹʌmpɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English trumpette, borrowed from Old French trompette, a diminutive of trompe “trumpet, horn”,[2][3][4][5][6] of Germanic origin, related to Old High German trumpa (“trumpet”) and Old Norse trumba.[2][3][4] It is related to trump “trumpet”.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A musical wind instrument of bright, powerful tone, used especially for signals and fanfares (14th century; before 1393 in Barnhart).[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word was applied to many kinds of instrument over the centuries, straight or curved, of metal, wood or horn;[4] the modern orchestral trumpet developed fully in the 18th and early 19th centuries.[4] From 1447 a trumpet was also anything that proclaims or celebrates, as in to blow one's own trumpet.[7] The verb meant “to blow a trumpet” (1530) and “to proclaim loudly” (1604),[7][4] and was used from 1828 for the cry of an elephant.[7][4]

Timeline

  • before 1393 – the instrument.[3]
  • c. 1447 – the spelling trumpet; something that proclaims.[3][7]
  • 1530 – verb, to blow a trumpet.[7][3][5]
  • 1604 – verb, to proclaim loudly.[7]
  • 1659 – an organ stop.[7]
  • 1828 – verb, of an elephant, to make its cry.[7][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A soprano brass wind instrument of a long metal tube looped and ending in a flared bell, with a cup-shaped mouthpiece and, in the modern form, three valves.
  2. Something shaped or sounding like a trumpet, such as an ear trumpet.
  3. An organ stop with a tone like that of the trumpet.
  4. A loud resounding cry, as of an elephant.

Verb

  1. To play a trumpet.
  2. To make a loud trumpet-like cry.
  3. To proclaim loudly; to promote enthusiastically.

Word family

  • trumpeter
  • ear trumpet
  • trump
  • trombone
  • tromba
  • cornet

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Trumpet.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/trumpet. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

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