pibroch

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/ˈpiːbɹɒk//ˈpiːbɹɒx/

noun

A series of musical variations for the bagpipes, usually martial or funerary in nature.

OriginScottish Gaelic pìobaireachd →
Scrabble 16
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Meanings

nounpibroch (plural pibrochs)

plural pibrochs · alternative piobaireachd

  1. A series of musical variations for the bagpipes, usually martial or funerary in nature.

    Ever, as on they bore, more loud / And louder rung the pibroch proud.

    1810, The Lady of the Lake, Walter Scott, 2.XVII
    2 more examples

    He had heard the stirring pibrochs speed the Gordons in their fights, / It had borne them through the fire zone as they swung up Dargai's heights […]

    1908, E. G. Murphy, ‘The Doctor's Story’, Australian Ballads & Short Stories, Penguin, published 2003, page 279

    Halfway through The Big Music, Kirsty Gunn notes that piobaireachd, a particular form of bagpipe composition, sounds ‘foreign and strange’ to those not raised on it.

    2012, Hannah Rosefield, “Piping Up”, in Literary Review, section 401

Origin

  1. Scottish Gaelicpìobaireachd“act of playing the bagpipes”
  2. Englishpibroch

From Scottish Gaelic pìobaireachd (“act of playing the bagpipes”), from pìobaire (“piper”) + -achd (“abstract noun suffix”).

More words from Scottish Gaelic

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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