Meanings
plural didgeridoos · alternative didjeridu · alternative didjeridoo · alternative digeridoo
- A musical instrument, endemic to the Top End of Australia, consisting of a long hollowed-out log which, when blown into, produces a low, deep mesmerising drone with sweeping rhythms.
present singular third person didgeridoos · participle present didgeridooing · participle past didgeridooed · past didgeridooed · alternative didjeridu · alternative didjeridoo · alternative digeridoo
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Likely onomatopoeic in reference to the sound made by the instrument, or the words spoken into the instrument to play it. The earliest known description of the instrument was in 1829 by Captain Collet Barker, in which it was described as making the sound didoggerry whoan. In 2002, Lonergan proposed that the term could derive from Irish dúdaire dubh (“black hummer”) or Scottish Gaelic dùdaire dùth (“native piper”), though the latter seems to be coincidental, since there is no corroborating evidence and the terms would refer to the player (rather than the instrument itself).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic دِيدْجِيرِيدُو
- دِيدْجِيرِيدُو (dīdjīrīdū)Australian musical instrument
Catalan didjeridú
- didjeridúAustralian musical instrument
Chinese Mandarin 蒂傑利多 /蒂杰利多, 迪吉里杜管
- 蒂傑利多 /蒂杰利多 (dìjiélìduō)Australian musical instrument
- 迪吉里杜管 (díjílǐdùguǎn)Australian musical instrument
Dutch didgeridoo
- didgeridooAustralian musical instrument
Esperanto diĝeriduo
- diĝeriduoAustralian musical instrument
Finnish didgeridoo
- didgeridooAustralian musical instrument
French didgeridoo
- didgeridooAustralian musical instrument
Hindi डिजरिडू
- डिजरिडू (ḍijriḍū)Australian musical instrument
Hungarian didgeridoo
- didgeridooAustralian musical instrument
Irish didiridiú
- didiridiúAustralian musical instrument
Italian didgeridoo, didgeridù
- didgeridooAustralian musical instrument
- didgeridùAustralian musical instrument
- didjeridooAustralian musical instrument
- didjeriduAustralian musical instrument
Polish didgeridoo
- didgeridooAustralian musical instrument
Portuguese didgeridoo, didjeridu
- didgeridooAustralian musical instrument
- didjeriduAustralian musical instrument
Russian диджериду́
- диджериду́ (didžeridú)Australian musical instrument
Spanish didgeridoo, didjeridu
- didgeridooAustralian musical instrument
- didjeriduAustralian musical instrument
- diyiridúAustralian musical instrument
Swedish didgeridoo, didjeridu
- didgeridooAustralian musical instrument
- didjeriduAustralian musical instrument
Ukrainian діджеріду
- діджеріду (didžeridu)Australian musical instrument
Cite this entry
didgeridoo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/didgeridoo
“didgeridoo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/didgeridoo. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “didgeridoo,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/didgeridoo.
Source: didgeridoo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.