marimba

marim·ba
M3A1R1I1M3B3A1
/məˈɹɪm.bə/

noun

A percussion instrument with African origins, similar to a xylophone with resonators, but much lower in range and darker in timbre.

Similar
marimbaphonexylophone
OriginPortuguese marimba ← Kimbundu madimba →
Less commonScrabble 13
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Meanings

nounmarimba (plural marimbas)

plural marimbas

  1. entertainmentA percussion instrument with African origins, similar to a xylophone with resonators, but much lower in range and darker in timbre.

    The default ringtone for your iPhone is a marimba sound, but if you'd like to change it, start at the Home screen, then tap on the Settings icon.

    2009, Scott Kelby, Terry White, The iPhone Book, Third Edition (Covers iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, and iPod Touch), Peachpit Press, →ISBN

    Synonyms: marimbaphone

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA percussion instrument with African origins, similar to a xylophone with resonators, but much lower in range and darker in timbre.

Similar
marimbaphone

More synonyms by meaning

nouna percussion instrument with wooden bars tuned to produce a chromatic scale and with resonators; played with small mallets

Similar
xylophone
Broader
percussion instrumentpercussive instrument
Also see
xylophone

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Kimbundumadimba
  2. Portuguesemarimba
  3. Englishmarimba

Borrowed from Portuguese marimba, from Kimbundu madimba, plural of dimba.

More words from Portuguese, Kimbundu

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian маримба
  • маримба (marimba)musical instrument
Catalan marimba
  • marimbamusical instrument
Chinese Mandarin 馬林巴琴 /马林巴琴
  • 馬林巴琴 /马林巴琴 (mǎlínbāqín)musical instrument
Dutch marimba
  • marimbamusical instrument
Finnish marimba
  • marimbamusical instrument
French marimba
  • marimbamusical instrument
German Marimbaphon
  • Marimbaphonmusical instrument
Hungarian marimba
  • marimbamusical instrument
Irish mairimbe
  • mairimbemusical instrument
Italian marimba
  • marimbamusical instrument
Japanese マリンバ
  • マリンバ (marinba)musical instrument
Portuguese marimba
  • marimbamusical instrument
Romanian marimba
  • marimbamusical instrument
Russian мари́мба
  • мари́мба (marímba)musical instrument
Spanish marimba
  • marimbamusical instrument
Swahili marimba
  • marimbamusical instrument
Swedish marimba
  • marimbamusical instrument
Tagalog marimba
  • marimbamusical instrument
Turkish marimba
  • marimbamusical instrument

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Maibram
Cite this entry
APA

marimba. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/marimba

MLA

“marimba.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/marimba. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “marimba,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/marimba.

Source: marimba on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.