Meaning of likembe | Babel Free

Definitions

A musical instrument found in sub-Saharan Africa; a kind of lamellophone.

Examples

“One of the lesser pygmies had a small musical instrument in his lap, a hollowed-out box affair with small strips of metal set⟳ across a bar on top which, if I remember⟳ right, is called a "Likembe."”

“This instrument became interregionally known as the likembe, and it spread⟳ like⟳ wildfire among porters and employees in the Belgian colonial service throughout the French and the Belgian Congo, thus paralleling the spread⟳ of the trade⟳ […]”

“A new artist, Antoine Mundanda of Brazzaville, brought his likembe troupe to Ngoma in 1954, recording several songs that seemed to confirm⟳ the link⟳ between traditional likembe and modern guitar picking.”

“Like⟳ elsewhere in central Africa, the likembe in Angola was an instrument of the emerging working class and, as such, it was also inter-ethnic.”

CEFR level