Etymology

trombone

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Today it means: A musical instrument in the brass family, having a cylindrical bore, and usually a sliding tube (but sometimes piston valves, and rarely both). Most often refers to the tenor trombone, which is the most common type of trombone and has a fundamental tone of B♭ˌ (contra B♭). Full definition →

Italian trombone
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The story

  1. Italian · borrowed fromtrombone
  2. English todaytrombone

Borrowed from Italian trombone, from tromba (“trumpet”) + -one (augmentative), literally “large trumpet”. The telecommunications sense alludes to the shape of the musical instrument.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.