DisputedScience & games · Everyday

tambor

drum — a percussion instrument with a stretched skininstrumento de percusión con parche tenso

Comes from Arabic

طُنْبُور

ṭunbūr

“a long-necked stringed instrument”«instrumento de cuerda de mástil largo»

Arabic today says

طَبْل

ṭabl

The article

It came in without the article.

Arabic itself had taken it from Persian.

The story

Its old form was atambor. Curiously, the Arabic ṭunbūr is a stringed instrument; many think the base is rather ṭabl, "drum" (which also gave atabal), crossed with ṭunbūr, and some propose Persian tabīr. The Eastern origin is certain; the exact word is not.Su forma antigua era atambor. Curiosamente el ṭunbūr árabe es de cuerda; para muchos, la base es más bien ṭabl, «tambor» (que dio también atabal), cruzado con ṭunbūr, y hay quien propone el persa tabīr. El origen oriental es seguro; la palabra exacta, no.

In a sentence

Se oían los tambores de Semana Santa.

You could hear the Holy Week drums.

كَانَتْ تُسْمَعُ طُبُولُ أُسْبُوعِ الآلَام.