Meanings
plural contrabassoons
- entertainmentA larger version of the bassoon sounding one octave lower, having a technique similar to the bassoon but offers more resistance in every way.
Synonyms: contrafagotto, double bassoon
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA larger version of the bassoon sounding one octave lower, having a technique similar to the bassoon but offers more resistance in every way.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe bassoon that is the largest instrument in the oboe family
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Semi-anglicized version of Italian contrafagotto, probably following the model of the English word contrabass (which derives from Italian contrabbasso).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan contrafagot
- contrafagotcontrabassoon
Chinese Mandarin 低音巴松管, 低音大管
- 低音巴松管 (dīyīnbāsōngguǎn)contrabassoon
- 低音大管 (dīyīndàguǎn)contrabassoon
- 倍低音管 (bèidīyīnguǎn)contrabassoon
Czech kontrafagot
- kontrafagotcontrabassoon
Finnish kontrafagotti
- kontrafagotticontrabassoon
French contrebasson
- contrebassoncontrabassoon
Greek κόντρα φαγκότο
- κόντρα φαγκότο (kóntra fagkóto)contrabassoon
Icelandic kontrafagott
- kontrafagottcontrabassoon
Irish ollbhasún
- ollbhasúncontrabassoon
Italian controfagotto
- controfagottocontrabassoon
Japanese コントラファゴット
- コントラファゴット (kontorafagotto)contrabassoon
Polish kontrafagot
- kontrafagotcontrabassoon
Portuguese contrafagote
- contrafagotecontrabassoon
Russian контрафаго́т
- контрафаго́т (kontrafagót)contrabassoon
Spanish contrafagot
- contrafagotcontrabassoon
Cite this entry
contrabassoon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contrabassoon
“contrabassoon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contrabassoon. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “contrabassoon,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contrabassoon.
Source: contrabassoon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.