: a simple wind instrument typically having an oval body with finger holes and a projecting mouthpiece
Illustration of ocarina
Examples of ocarina in a Sentence
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The guitar and ocarina join the orchestra — the Pacific Symphony, conducted by David LaMarche, replacing de la Parra, who couldn’t travel because of an ear infection.—Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2023 At Ta’ab Nuk Na, researchers also discovered a whistle in the shape of a woman called an ocarina.—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Oct. 2022 Residents likely obtained the ocarina while trading with the inhabitants of Lubaantun, an inland city where researchers have discovered similar whistles and the molds used to make them.—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Oct. 2022 The singer looked like a true fairy goddess in a floral gown and spent a portion of the song playing the ocarina, an instrument Cowell told her to ditch after her initial audition.—Charles Trepany, USA TODAY, 17 Aug. 2022 What do a certain mustachioed Italian plumber, an ocarina-playing elf in a green tunic and a gorilla wearing a necktie have in common with the works of classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?—Duante Beddingfield, Detroit Free Press, 19 Feb. 2022 At dawn, she is awakened, also magically, with the wispy sound of an ocarina, and the final preparations begin.—Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 2 Feb. 2022 Lee ran errands for Simon and Kirby, then in their twenties, entertaining or annoying them by playing the ocarina.—J. Hoberman, The New York Review of Books, 19 Aug. 2021
Word History
Etymology
Italian, from Italian dialect, diminutive of oca goose, from Late Latin auca, ultimately from Latin avis bird — more at aviary
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