rabekin, noun

/ˈræbəkɪn/
Forms:
Also rabouquin.
Origin:
PortugueseShow more Adaptation of Portuguese rabequinha, diminutive form of rabeca fiddle, but denoting the Nama stringed instrument ramgi-b.
obs. except in historical contexts
ramkie.
1790 tr. of F. Le Vaillant’s Trav. II. 107The rabouquin is a triangular piece of board, with three strings made of intestines, supported by a bridge, which may be stretched at pleasure by means of pegs, like those our instruments in Europe; it is indeed nothing else than a guitar with three strings.
1795 C.R. Hopson tr. of C.P. Thunberg’s Trav. (1773) II. 43Rabekin is a musical instrument, something like a guitar, made of a calabash and a narrow board, with three or four strings, which may be stretched or relaxed at pleasure, by means of screws. On this instrument the Hottentots play with their fingers.
[1861 P.B. Borcherds Auto-Biog. Mem. 178In the evenings the labourers..indulged in gossip..or listened to the music of the ramakienjo (an instrument with three strings stretched over a calabash, which acted like a sounding board).]
1970 P. Oliver Savannah Syncopators 109Ramkie, remkie, three- or four-stringed guitar related to the Portuguese rabequinha brought from Malabar to South Africa and developed by the Cape Hottentots. Also rabekin, ramakienjo, raamakie, ramki.
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