contrabass

English

Contrabass with bow

Etymology

From Italian contrabbasso, from contra (“against”) + basso (“low”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑn.tɹəˌbeɪs/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

Noun

contrabass (plural contrabasses)

1. The part or section one octave lower than bass.
2. Double bass; string bass.
3. Any of the several contrabass instruments.
4. The person or instrument performing the contrabass part.

Derived terms

• contrabass bugle
• contrabass clarinet
• contrabassist
• contrabass recorder
• contrabass sax
• contrabass saxophone
• contrabass saxophonist
• octocontrabass
• subcontrabass
• triple contrabass viol

Related terms

• bass
• contra

Translations

part or section one octave lower than bass

• Danish: kontrabas (da)
• Dutch: contrabas (nl)
• Finnish: kontrabasso (fi)
• French: contrebasse (fr)
• Friulian: cuintribàs m
• German: Kontrabass (de)
• Italian: contrabbasso (it)
• Japanese: コントラバス (ja) (kontorabasu)
• Portuguese: contrabaixo (pt)
• Russian: контраба́с (ru) (kontrabás)
• Spanish: contrabajo (es)
• Swedish: kontrabas (sv)

double bass — see double bass

person or instrument performing the contrabass part

• Finnish: kontrabasso (fi)
• Macedonian: ко́нтрабас m (kóntrabas)

See also

• Appendix:Glossary of chordophones