: a double-reed woodwind instrument having a conical tube, a brilliant penetrating tone, and a usual range from B flat below middle C upward for over 2¹/₂ octaves
Recent Examples on the WebThe performance will feature the Atlantic Reed Consort, an ensemble made up of a bass clarinet, bassoon, clarinet, oboe and saxophone, as well as sopranos Colleen Daly and Laura Strickling.—Susan Soldavin, Baltimore Sun, 15 May 2024 The performance on Wednesday, conducted by Jane Glover, was supposed to include Mozart’s Oboe Concerto, with the solo part taken by the orchestra’s principal oboe, Liang Wang.—Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 9 May 2024 The oboe proves an excellent conduit for such enigmatic games.—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2023 On oboe, Owens was a special standout, her clean, cool, nimble lines in gorgeous conversation with Francisco’s voice.—Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 9 Feb. 2024 See all Example Sentences for oboe
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'oboe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
: a musical instrument in the form of a slender tube that has a distinctive bright sound and that is played by blowing into a mouthpiece holding two reeds
from Italian oboe "oboe," from French hautbois (same meaning), from haut "high" and bois "wood"
Word Origin
The musical instrument we now call an oboe was developed in France in the 17th century. The French called it a hautbois, a word pronounced something like English "o boy" and made up of haut, meaning "high," and bois, meaning "wood." The hautbois was the highest pitched member of a group of woodwind instruments played with a reed. For a time the English simply used the French word for the instrument. Sometimes they spelled it hautbois, sometimes hautboy, and sometimes they changed the spelling to oboy or hoboy. Meanwhile, the Italians took the French word as oboe, a spelling closer to the way they pronounced it. In the 18th century it became fashionable in England to prefer Italian musical terms. The English then started using the form oboe instead of hautbois, and so oboe is the form we use today.
Share