FromOld Frenchdoulcemelle, probably fromLatindulcemelos(“sweet song”), fromAncient Greekμέλος(mélos,“melody, song”).

• (General American)IPA^(key):/ˈdʌl.sɪ.mɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/ˈdʌl.sɪ.mə/

• Audio(Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation:dul‧ci‧mer

dulcimer (pluraldulcimers)

1. A stringedinstrument, with strings stretched across asounding board, usuallytrapezoidal, played byplucking on the strings (traditionally with a quill) or bytapping on them (in the case of thehammer dulcimers).

   Coordinate term:zither

   • 1797,Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Kubla Khan”, inThe Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Other Poems‎^[1], Courier Dover Publications, published1992,→ISBN, page59:

     A damsel with adulcimer / In a vision once I saw: / It was an Abyssinian maid / And on herdulcimer she played, / Singing of Mount Abora.

   • 1947 January 25, “Album Reviews: The Seven Joys of Mary—John: Jacob Niles (Disc 732)”, inThe Billboard‎^[2], volume59, number 4, Nielsen Business Media,→ISSN, page32:

     Accompanying himself with hisdulcimer, a plectrum instrument of his own handicraft, Niles harks back to the balladeers of old.

   • 2004, Madeline MacNeil,You Can Teach Yourself Dulcimer‎^[3], Mel Bay Publications,→ISBN, Introduction, page 4:

     Played traditionally, thedulcimer sounds delightful with drones acenting the melody you are playing.

• Appendix:Glossary of chordophones

FromItaliandulcimero.

• IPA^(key):/ˈdulsimer/,[ˈduls̠ime̞r]
• IPA^(key):/ˈdultʃimer/,[ˈdul̪.t̪ʃime̞r]
• Rhymes:-ulsimer
• Hyphenation^(key):dul‧ci‧mer

dulcimer

1. (music)dulcimer(instrument)