candombe

English

Etymology

From Rioplatense Spanish candombe.

Noun

candombe (countable and uncountable, plural candombes)

1. (music) A musical style of Uruguay originating from African slaves.
   • 1993 May 7, Nathaniel C. Nash, quoting Julio Olivera, “Uruguay Is on Notice: Blacks Want Recognition”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     "Candombe is the only original folkloric music in Uruguay, and it is a product of the black community," said Julio Olivera, an artist and head of the Association for the Development of Afro-Uruguayan Art and Culture.

   • 1999 August 1, Alvin Klein, “Cheating Death, Uruguayan Style”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     The 10 song-and-dance numbers include candombe rhythms, with African roots, but the music is mostly murga, Uruguayan carnival sounds.

2. (dance) The dance to this music.
3. (music) A type of drum used to accompany this music.
   • 2014 September 12, Michael T. Luongo, “Argentina Rediscovers Its African Roots”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN:

     Together, we watched locals and tourists practice their dance moves in the center, a converted warehouse whose walls were lined with candombe drums carved with images of slave ship hulls filled with chained human cargo.

Related terms

• Candomblé

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Kimbundu kandombe. Cognate of Portuguese candomblé.

Noun

candombe m (plural candombes)

1. candombe
   • 2015 July 27, “El coraje de las mujeres que no entienden de fronteras”, in El País‎^[4]:

     Tampoco en las de Julia Ortiz y Dolores Aguirre, dos oriundas del río de La Plata (Argentina) que responden al nombre de Perotá Chingó, y que trastean en sus conciertos con el joropo venezolano (a través de una versión de Simón Díaz), el candombe uruguayo o las sonoridades brasileñas, sin olvidarse del legado folk de la chilena Violeta Parra.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Further reading

• “candombe”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28