sackbut

S1A1C3K5B3U1T1

noun

A brass instrument from the Renaissance and Baroque Eras, and an ancestor of the modern trombone. It was derived from the medieval slide trumpet.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

nounsackbut (plural sackbuts)

plural sackbuts · alternative sacbut · alternative sackbutt · alternative sagbut · alternative shagbolt · alternative shakbusshe

  1. entertainmentA brass instrument from the Renaissance and Baroque Eras, and an ancestor of the modern trombone. It was derived from the medieval slide trumpet.
    1 more example

    Every instrument took part in the stately Pavane: the lutes and the dulcimers, and the theorbos, and the sackbuts, and the hautboys; the flutes sweetly warbling as birds in the upper air, and the silver trumpets, and the horns that breathed deep melodies trembling with mystery and tenderness that shakes the heart; and the drum that beateth to battle, and the wild throb of the harp, and the cymbals clashing as the clash of armies.

    1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 35

Origin

  1. Middle Frenchsacquer“to pull”
  2. Frenchsacqueboute
  3. Englishsackbut

From French sacqueboute, from Middle French sacquer (“to pull”) + bouter (“to push”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan sacabutx
  • sacabutxbrass instrument
Dutch baroktrombone
  • baroktrombonebrass instrument
Esperanto renesanctrombono, baroktrombono
  • renesanctrombonobrass instrument
  • baroktrombonobrass instrument
  • sakbutobrass instrument
French sacqueboute, sacquebute
  • sacqueboutebrass instrument
  • sacquebutebrass instrument
  • saquebutebrass instrument
German Posaune, Barockposaune
  • Posaunebrass instrument
  • Barockposaunebrass instrument
  • Renaissanceposaunebrass instrument
  • Sackbutbrass instrument
Italian sackbut
  • sackbutbrass instrument
Norwegian Bokmål sackbut, barokktrombone
  • sackbutbrass instrument
  • barokktrombonebrass instrument
Portuguese sacabuxa
  • sacabuxabrass instrument
Spanish sacabuche
  • sacabuchebrass instrument
Swedish barocktrombon
  • barocktrombonbrass instrument

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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