vibraphone

[ vahy-bruh-fohn ]

noun

1. Also vibes. a musical percussion instrument that resembles a marimba and is played with mallets, but that has metal instead of wooden bars and has a set of electrically powered resonators for sustaining the tone or creating a vibrato.

vibraphone

/ ˈvaɪbrəˌfəʊn; ˈvaɪbrəˌhɑːp /

noun

1. a percussion instrument, used esp in jazz, consisting of a set of metal bars placed over tubular metal resonators, which are made to vibrate electronically

Derived Forms

• ˈvibraˌphonist, noun

Other Words From

• vi·bra·phon·ist [vahy, -br, uh, -foh-nist, vahy-, brof, -, uh, -], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of vibraphone¹

First recorded in 1925–30; from Latin vibrā(re) “to shake” + -phone