timbre

UK: /ˈtæmbə^r/

US: /ˈtæmbɚ, ˈtɪm-/

US: (tam′bər, tim′-; Fr. tan′br^ə)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

tim•bre /ˈtæmbɚ, ˈtɪm-/   n. [uncountable]

1. Music and Dance the special, usually unique quality of sound produced by a particular instrument or voice;
   tone color.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

tim•bre  (tam′bər, tim′-; Fr. tan′br^ə), n. 

1. Physics, Phonetics [Acoustics, Phonet.] the characteristic quality of a sound, independent of pitch and loudness, from which its source or manner of production can be inferred. Timbre depends on the relative strengths of the components of different frequencies, which are determined by resonance.
2. Music and Dance the characteristic quality of sound produced by a particular instrument or voice;
   tone color.

• Medieval Greek tímbanon, variant of Greek týmpanon drum
• French: sound (origin, originally of bell), Middle French: bell, timbrel, drum, Old French: drum
• Middle English tymbre 1325–75

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

timbre / ˈtɪmbə ˈtæmbə tɛ̃brə/ noun

1. the distinctive tone quality differentiating one vowel or sonant from another
2. tone colour or quality of sound, esp a specific type of tone colour

Etymology: 19th Century: from French: note of a bell, from Old French: drum, from Medieval Greek timbanon, from Greek tumpanon drum