chalumeau

noun

cha·​lu·​meau

¦shalə¦mō

plural chalumeaux

-ōz

1

a

: a medieval wind instrument consisting of an upright tube surmounted by a small tube in which was fixed a double reed : shawm

b

: an obsolete single-reed wind instrument of varying size that after progressive modifications became the clarinet

2

: chanter sense 3

3

: the lowest register of the clarinet

—often used as a direction to play a passage an octave lower

4

: a reed organ pipe usually of 8-foot pitch and of clarinetlike tone

called also schalmei

Word History

Etymology

French, from Late Latin calamellus little reed

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