Meanings
plural balafons
- A wooden-keyed percussion idiophone of West Africa that is struck with two padded sticks.
He is performing here with his Symmetric Orchestra, an ensemble of West African musicians who play both traditional instruments (kora, balafon, bolombatto, djembe) and slightly more contemporary ones (guitars, keyboards).
2009 April 17, The New York Times, “Pop Listings”, in New York TimesSynonyms: bala
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA wooden-keyed percussion idiophone of West Africa that is struck with two padded sticks.
Origin
- Mandinkabalafoŋo
- Englishbalafon
From Mandinka balafoŋo.
More words from Mandinka
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Esperanto balafono
- balafonoA percussion idiophone of West Africa
French balafon
- balafonA percussion idiophone of West Africa
German Balafon
- BalafonA percussion idiophone of West Africa
Romanian balafon
- balafonA percussion idiophone of West Africa
Cite this entry
balafon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/balafon
“balafon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/balafon. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “balafon,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/balafon.
Source: balafon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.