harmonica

[ hahr-mon-i-kuh ]

noun

1. Also called mouth organ. a musical wind instrument consisting of a small rectangular case containing a set of metal reeds connected to a row of holes, over which the player places the mouth and exhales and inhales to produce the tones.
2. any of various percussion instruments that use graduated bars of metal or other hard material as sounding elements.

harmonica

/ hɑːˈmɒnɪkə /

noun

1. Also calledmouth organ a small wind instrument of the reed organ family in which reeds of graduated lengths set into a metal plate enclosed in a narrow oblong box are made to vibrate by blowing and sucking
2. See glass harmonica

Word History and Origins

Origin of harmonica¹

Noun use of feminine of Latin harmonicus harmonic; in the form armonica (< Italian < Latin ) applied by Benjamin Franklin in 1762 to a set of musical glasses; later used of other instruments

Word History and Origins

Origin of harmonica¹

C18: from Latin harmonicus relating to harmony

Example Sentences

Jenkins played baritone ukulele, harmonica, hummed and used bird calls in her work while pulling influences from Spanish, Chinese, Hebrew, Korean, Swahili and other languages.

From Los Angeles Times

Her uncle Flood, a blues-loving harmonica player, introduced her to music and she would sit and listen to him play for hours.

From Los Angeles Times

“Everything he does is real. Everything he does is interesting to me. So, we talk. I play the harmonica with him on the other video thing, and we have made this kind of contact. So, it’s fun.”

From BBC

Young stepped out in a train engineer’s cap and shades, carrying a hollow-bodied Gretsch electric, harmonica firmly placed at his lips.

From Los Angeles Times

A guitarist, keyboardist, singer, harmonica player and songwriter, Mayall released dozens of albums and played innumerable gigs in a career that stretched over more than half a century.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• harp