bourdon

Definitions

1. The burden or bass of a melody.
   archaic
2. Unadapted borrowing from French bourdon; a pilgrim's staff.
   historical
3. A flute stop on an organ of 8', 16' or 32', generally characterized by a low, dark tone.
4. A surname from French.
5. The drone pipe of a bagpipe.
6. The lowest-pitched stop of an organ.
7. The lowest-pitched bell of a carillon.
8. A large, low-pitched bell not part of a diatonically tuned ring of bells.
9. A bumblebee, genus Bombus.

Equivalents

1 more languages

Suomibordunapilli

Examples

“The earth tremors resumed and made a bourdon to the loud psalms that they sang, interspersed with the odd ode of Horace recited by Silas.”

“The dim roar of London was like⟳ the bourdon note⟳ of a distant organ.”

“The left hand was gone, this held the bourdon or pilgrim's staff, a small portion only of which appeared over the scrip.”

“The pilgrim's return⟳ was denoted by a bunch of palm, which was tied round the head of the bourdon, the leaves being, of course, ghe guerdon of his enterprise, giving the name⟳ of Palmer to the tribe.”

“Both in Wright's text and in Lydgate's version the hutch from which Grace Dieu gets the scrip and bourdon is said to contain⟳ 'many a fair jewel.'”

“A thin wand is frequently bound against the pilgrim's bourdon in fifteenth century pictures.”

CEFR level