Meanings
nounkalimba (plural kalimbas)
plural kalimbas
- entertainmentA type of thumb piano, similar to the mbira.
Typical instruments used for making traditional Sierra Leonean music include bench drums, or gumbe; other drums; a kind of xylophone called the balangi; and a type of piano called the sansa (also known as a kalimba or mbira) that is played with the thumb.
2007, Suzanne LeVert, Cultures of the World: Sierra Leone, page 109
Cite this entry
APA
kalimba. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kalimba
MLA
“kalimba.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kalimba. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kalimba,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kalimba.
Source: kalimba on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.