Re: origin of 'timbre'

[Harvey Holmes <H.Holmes@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I would like to add a little about the evolution of the word in 
English.  My source is the (full) Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the 
authoritative etymological dictionary in English, which has several entries 
for 'timbre'.  My brief summary of the OED material (OUP, 1971 edition) 
follows.

The OED traces the roots to Greek and Latin words, as mentioned below by 
Claire, but it entered English with different meanings at several different 
times through the Old French 'timbre'.  It was first used in English the 
12th century to mean a sort of kettledrum (translating the biblical Latin 
'tympanum'), and later also to mean a tambourine and various types of bells 
(14th century).  Various other derivative meanings arose in the middle ages 
(including a weight(?), a helmet or skull cap, a heraldic crest, etc.).

The modern meaning apparently arose only in the 19th century (Charlotte 
Bronte and later), first meaning 'sound of a bell', then 'sonorous quality 
of any instrument or of a voice', and finally (1853) 'character or quality 
of a sound [as distinct from its pitch or intensity]', which is equivalent 
to the German 'Klangfarbe', essentially its current meaning.

        Harvey Holmes

At 23:36 27/09/2004, you wrote:

> Hello Jim
> here is some cues so you can follow parts of the evolution of the word.
>
> TIMBRE : n.m. emprunté au grec byzantin /timbanon /(...) du grec
> classique /tumpanon /"tambourin", (...) étant associé aux cultes
> orgiaques de Cybèle et de Dyonisos, le mot serait d'origine
> sémitique.(...) /Tympanum,/ d'où viennent la forme héritée disparue
> /tympe /(v.1155) et l'emprunt /tympan. /(...)/ Timbre /s'est
> progressivement éloigné de son sens d'emprunt /tambour de basque /propre
> à l'ancien français; il s'appliquait à la cloche immobile que l'on
> frappait avec un marteau (1374), qui est à l'origine du sens
> métaphorique de "tête" (v.1450). De cette valeur procède la locution
> /avoir le timbre fêlé. /(1606). De nos jours, le mot au sens concret
> désigne une calotte de métal qui, frappée par un marteau ou un vibreur,
> sert de sonnette (1858). Par métonymie, il désigne la qualité de
> sonorité d'un timbre (1762; 1740, "son d'un timbre" et, plus
> généralement, d'un instrument donné, valeur importante en musique./ /Il
> est employé aussi en phonétique (1926; /timbre d'une voyelle/)./ Timbre
> /a eu un autre développement sémantique fondé sur une analogie de forme
> avec le tambour ou la cloche nommée /timbre /au moyen âge. (...)
>
> Rey, Alain, /Dictionnaire historique de la langue française. /Éditions
> LeRobert: Paris, 1998 (1992). Tome 3.
>
> Claire
>
>
> beaucham a écrit :
>
> > I would like to have a good historical reference for the word
> > "timbre". One book (Helmholtz's Sensations of Tone) says it
> > was the original word for timpani. Another source says "a sort
> > of drum with stretched strings". A dictionary says both "bell
> > struck by a hammer" and "tymbanon kettledrum". Is there a
> > good source that discusses the original meaning of the word
> > and how it came to take on its modern meaning?
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > James W. Beauchamp
> > Professor Emeritus of Music and Electrical & Computer Engineering
> > University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
> > 2136 Music Bldg. MC-056
> > 1114 W. Nevada, Urbana, IL 61801  USA
> > email: jwbeauch@uiuc.edu (also: beaucham@manfred.music.uiuc.edu)
> > phone: +1-217-344-3307 (also: 217-244-1207 and 217-333-3691)
> > fax: +1-217-344-3723 (also: 217-244-4585)
> > WWW:  http://ems.music.uiuc.edu/beaucham