Bombarde

Bombarde (Fr.) [Lat. bombus, to drone, buzz], 1. Fr. equivalent of bombard. The word is taken over from an artillery piece of the same name and first appears in the sense of a musical instr. in 1342 (Le Livre des mestiers). In 1376 “grosses bombardes” were designated as new, and in 1453 we hear of a “chalemie appelée bombarde” (a shawm called bombard), in 1590 of “un double bas haultbois autrement apelé bombarde” (a double-bass hautbois otherwise called bombard) (35, 82, 89); 2. folk shawm of…