malimba

noun

ma·​lim·​ba mə-ˈlim-bə 

variants or less commonly marimba

mə-ˈrim-bə 

plural malimbas also marimbas

: a small thumb piano of Tanzania or Malawi

… box-resonated lamellophones such as … the malimba …

—Gerhard Kubik, Theory of African Music, 1994

Word History

First Known Use

1834, in the meaning defined above

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