didgeridoo

English

WOTD – 23 February 2008

A didgeridoo

Alternative forms

• didjeridu, didjeridoo, digeridoo

Etymology

Likely onomatopoeic in reference to the sound made by the instrument, or the words spoken into the instrument to play it.

The earliest known description of the instrument was in 1829 by Captain Collet Barker, in which it was described as making the sound didoggerry whoan. In 2002, Lonergan proposed that the term could derive from Irish dúdaire dubh (“black hummer”) or Scottish Gaelic dùdaire dùth (“native piper”), though this seems to be coincidental, since there is no corroborating evidence and the terms would refer to the player (rather than the instrument itself).

Pronunciation

• enPR: dĭj'ər-ē-do͞oʹ, IPA^(key): /ˌdɪd͡ʒ.əɹ.iˈduː/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: did‧ger‧i‧doo

Noun

didgeridoo (plural didgeridoos)

1. A musical instrument, endemic to the Top End of Australia, consisting of a long hollowed-out log which, when blown into, produces a low, deep mesmerising drone with sweeping rhythms.

   Synonyms: didge, yidaki

Derived terms

• didgeridooist
• dollarydoo

 

Translations

Australian musical instrument

• Arabic: دِيدْجِيرِيدُو m (dīdjīrīdū)
• Burarra: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: didjeridú (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蒂傑利多／蒂杰利多 (dìjiélìduō), 迪吉里杜管 (díjílǐdùguǎn)

• Djambarrpuyngu: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: didgeridoo (nl) m
• Esperanto: diĝeriduo
• Finnish: didgeridoo (fi)
• French: didgeridoo (fr) m
• Hindi: डिजरिडू m (ḍijriḍū)
• Hungarian: didgeridoo (hu)
• Irish: didiridiú m
• Italian: didgeridoo m, didgeridù (it) m, didjeridoo m, didjeridu m
• Macedonian: ди́џериду n (dídžeridu)
• Mudburra: bambu
• Murrinh-Patha: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: didgeridoo (pt) m, didjeridu (pt) m
• Russian: диджериду́ (ru) n (didžeridú)
• Spanish: didgeridoo m, didjeridu m, diyiridú m
• Swedish: didgeridoo (sv) c, didjeridu c
• Tiwi: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: діджеріду (didžeridu)

Verb

didgeridoo (third-person singular simple present didgeridoos, present participle didgeridooing, simple past and past participle didgeridooed)

1. (rare) To play the digeridoo.

Further reading

• iDIDJ Didgeridoo Cultural Hub of Australia Definition of didgeridoo & more

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English didgeridoo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌdɪ.dʒə.riˈdu/.

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: did‧ge‧ri‧doo

Noun

didgeridoo m (plural didgeridoos, diminutive didgeridootje n)

1. didgeridoo

Derived terms

• didge

Portuguese

Noun

didgeridoo m (plural didgeridoos)

1. didgeridoo (Australian Aboriginal musical instrument)

Spanish

Alternative forms

• didyeridú, diyeridú

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English didgeridoo.

Noun

didgeridoo m (plural didgeridoos)

1. didgeridoo

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Swedish

Noun

didgeridoo c

1. didgeridoo

Declension

Declension of didgeridoo

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	didgeridoo	didgeridoos
	definite	didgeridoon	didgeridoons
plural	indefinite	didgeridooer	didgeridooers
	definite	didgeridooerna	didgeridooernas