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Origin and history of timbre

timbre(n.)

in acoustics, "characteristic quality of a musical sound, distinguishing it from sounds from other sources," 1849, from French timbre "quality of a sound," earlier "sound of a bell," in Old French, "bell without a clapper," originally "small drum," probably via Medieval Greek *timbanon, from Greek tympanon "kettledrum" (see tympanum).

Timbre was used in Old French (13c.) and Middle English (14c.) to render Latin tympanum in Psalm cl. Related: Timbrous.

also from 1849

Entries linking to timbre

tympanum(n.)

"drum of the ear," 1610s, from Medieval Latin tympanum (auris), introduced in this sense by Italian anatomist Gabriello Fallopio (1523-1562), from Latin tympanum "a hand-drum, timbrel, tambourine," from Greek tympanon "a kettledrum," from root of typtein "to beat, strike" (see type (n.)).

The modern meaning "a drum" is attested in English from 1670s. Compare tympan, Old English timpan "drum, timbrel, tambourine," from Latin tympanum.

philately(n.)

"stamp-collecting, the fancy for collecting and classifying postage-stamps and revenue stamps," 1865, from French philatélie, coined by French stamp collector Georges Herpin (in "Le Collectionneur de Timbres-poste," Nov. 15, 1864), from Greek phil- "loving" (see philo-) + atelēs "free from tax or charge," which was the ancient Greek word Herpin found that most nearly matched the concept of what a postage stamp does (from a- "without," see a- (3), + telos "tax;" see toll (n.)).

It is a reminder of the original function of postage stamps: the cost of letter-carrying formerly was paid by the recipient; a stamp indicated that carriage had been pre-paid by the sender, thus indicating to the recipient's postmaster that the letter so stamped was "carriage-free."

It is a pity that for one of the most popular scientific pursuits one of the least popularly intelligible names should have been found. [Fowler]

Stampomania (1865) also was tried. Also from French were timbrology "science or study of postage stamps" (1865), from French timbre "stamp," apparently the same word as timbre. Also timbromanie (1863), the French word for "stamp-collecting mania." Stamp-collecting itself is attested from 1862. Related: Philatelic; philatelism; philatelist.

timbrel(n.)

percussive Middle Eastern instrument, mid-15c., diminutive of timbre (late 14c.), from Old French timbre in its older sense of "drum" (see timbre). It was used in Bible translations, chiefly to render Hebrew toph, cognate with Arabic duff "drum," ultimately of imitative origin.

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    Trends of timbre

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    timber
    Old English timber "building, structure," in late Old English "building material, trees suitable for building," and "trees or woods in general," from Proto-Germanic *tem(b)ra- (source also of Old Saxon timbar "a building, room," Old Frisian timber "wood, building," Old High Germa
    quality
    c. 1300, qualite, "temperament, character, disposition," from Old French calite, qualite "quality, nature, characteristic" (12c., Modern French qualité), from Latin qualitatem (nominative qualitas) "a quality, property; nature, state, condition" (said [Tucker, etc.] to have been
    tone
    mid-14c., "musical sound or note," from Old French ton "musical sound, speech, words" (13c.) and directly from Latin tonus "a sound, tone, accent," literally "stretching" (in Medieval Latin, a term peculiar to music), from Greek tonos "vocal pitch, raising of voice, accent, key i
    tambourine
    Earlier names for this type of instrument were tambour de basque (1680s), also timbre and timbrel....
    note
    c. 1200, noten, "observe, take mental note of, mark carefully," from Old French noter "indicate, designate; take note of, write down," from Latin notare "to mark, note, make a note," from nota "mark, sign, note, character, letter" (see note (n.)). Sense of "mention separately or
    color
    early 13c., "skin color, complexion," from Anglo-French culur, coulour, Old French color "color, complexion, appearance" (Modern French couleur), from Latin color "color of the skin; color in general, hue; appearance," from Old Latin colos, originally "a covering" (akin to celare
    coloration
    "art or practice of coloring; special appearance of color or colored marks on a surface," 1620s, from French coloration (16c.), from Late Latin colorationem (nominative coloratio) "act or fact of coloring," noun of action from past participle stem of Latin colorare "to color, to
    register
    late 14c., registre, "public record book, private account book, an official written account regularly kept," from Old French registre (13c.) and directly from Medieval Latin registrum, regestrum, properly regestum, from Late Latin regesta "list, matters recorded," noun use of Lat
    propitiation
    late 14c., propiciacioun, "atonement, expiation," from Late Latin propitiationem (nominative propitiatio) "an atonement," noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin propitiare "appease, propitiate," from propitius "favorable, gracious, kind, well-disposed." The current exp
    bacteria
    "unicellular microorganisms which lack an organized nucleus," and sometimes cause disease, 1847, plural of Modern Latin bacterium, from Greek bakterion "small staff," diminutive of baktron "stick, rod, staff, cudgel." So called because the first ones observed were rod-shaped. Int

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