Meanings
plural harmonicas
- A musical wind instrument with a series of holes for the player to blow into, each hole producing a different note.
- A musical instrument, consisting of a series of hemispherical glasses which, by touching the edges with the dampened finger, give forth the tones.
- A toy instrument of strips of glass or metal hung on two tapes, and struck with hammers.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna small rectangular free-reed instrument having a row of free reeds set back in air holes and played by blowing into the desired hole
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From armonica. Coined by American polymath and statesman Benjamin Franklin to refer to his glass harmonica, an instrument that predated the small wind instrument by several decades. Doublet of harmonic; compare Latin harmonicus.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans mondfluitjie, bekfluitjie
- mondfluitjiewind instrument
- bekfluitjiewind instrument
- mondharmonikawind instrument
Arabic هارمونيكا
- هارمونيكا (harmunika)wind instrument
Bulgarian устна хармоника
- устна хармоника (ustna harmonika)wind instrument
Catalan harmònica
- harmònicawind instrument
Chinese Cantonese 口琴
- 口琴 (hau² kam⁴)wind instrument
Chinese Mandarin 口琴
- 口琴 (kǒuqín)wind instrument
Czech harmonika
- harmonikawind instrument
Danish mundharmonika, mundharpe
- mundharmonikawind instrument
- mundharpewind instrument
Dutch mondharmonica
- mondharmonicawind instrument
Esperanto buŝharmoniko
- buŝharmonikowind instrument
Estonian suupill
- suupillwind instrument
Finnish huuliharppu
- huuliharppuwind instrument
French harmonica
- harmonicawind instrument
German Mundharmonika, Glasharmonika
- Mundharmonikawind instrument
- Glasharmonikamusical instrument, consisting of a series of glasses
Greek φυσαρμόνικα
- φυσαρμόνικα (fysarmónika)wind instrument
Hebrew מַפּוּחִית פֶּה
- מַפּוּחִית פֶּה (mapukhit pe)wind instrument
Hungarian szájharmonika
- szájharmonikawind instrument
Icelandic munnharpa
- munnharpawind instrument
Indonesian harmonika
- harmonikawind instrument
Irish armónach
- armónachwind instrument
Italian armonica
- armonicawind instrument
Japanese ハーモニカ, 口風琴
- ハーモニカ (hāmonika)wind instrument
- 口風琴 (kuchifūkin)wind instrument
Korean 하모니카, 구풍금
- 하모니카 (hamonika)wind instrument
- 구풍금 (gupunggeum)wind instrument
Lithuanian lūpinė armonikėlė
- lūpinė armonikėlėwind instrument
Māori hāmonika, pūtangitangi
- hāmonikawind instrument
- pūtangitangiwind instrument
Norwegian munnspill, munnharmonika
- munnspillwind instrument
- munnharmonikawind instrument
Persian سازدهنی
- سازدهنی (sâzdahani)wind instrument
Polish harmonijka
- harmonijkawind instrument
Portuguese gaita, harmónica
- gaitawind instrument
- harmónicawind instrument
- gaita de beiçoswind instrument
Romanian muzicuță
- muzicuțăwind instrument
Russian губна́я гармо́ника, губна́я гармо́шка
- губна́я гармо́ника (gubnája garmónika)wind instrument
- губна́я гармо́шка (gubnája garmóška)wind instrument
Spanish armónica, harmónica
- armónicawind instrument
- harmónicawind instrument
- rondínwind instrument
Swahili kinanda cha mdomo, kinanda cha mkono
- kinanda cha mdomowind instrument
- kinanda cha mkonowind instrument
Swedish munspel
- munspelwind instrument
Tagalog silindro, armonika
- silindrowind instrument
- armonikawind instrument
Turkish mızıka, armonika
- mızıkawind instrument
- armonikawind instrument
Ukrainian губна́ гармо́ніка
- губна́ гармо́ніка (hubná harmónika)wind instrument
Vietnamese khẩu cầm
- khẩu cầmwind instrument
Welsh crwth genau
- crwth genauwind instrument
Cite this entry
harmonica. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/harmonica
“harmonica.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/harmonica. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “harmonica,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/harmonica.
Source: harmonica on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.