mbila, noun
/(ə)mˈbi(ː)lə/, /(ə)mˈbi(ː)la/
- Origin:
- VendaShow more Venda (plural dzimbila).
Music
Especially among the Venda people: a marimba, an African xylophone with wooden keys and hollow gourd resonators.
[1901 G.M. Theal in P.R. Kirby Musical Instruments of Native Races (1965) 47The best and most musical of their instruments is called the ambira, which greatly resembles our organs; it is composed of long gourds, some very wide and some very narrow, held close together and arranged in order.]
1985 S. Afr. Panorama MayThe Venda xylophone, mbila mutondo, can be played by as many as four musicians at once.
a marimba, an African xylophone with wooden keys and hollow gourd resonators.
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