Meanings
tombak1
plural tombaks
- entertainmentA type of goblet drum used heavily in Persian music.
1 more example
MOHAMMAD REZA SHAJARIAN (Thursday) Renowned in his native Iran, the vocalist Mohammad Reza Shajarian has been performing since the 1960s, and is now widely considered one of the finest classical Persian singers in the world. Mr. Shajarian’s son, Homayoun Shajarian, will provide additional vocals and tombak (goblet drum), while Ensemble Ava, a four-piece, will contribute additional instrumentation on the ancient Persian instruments barbat (short-necked lute), tar (long-necked lute), kamancheh (spike fiddle) and daf (frame drum).
2008 May 30, The New York Times, “Pop and Rock Listings”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 09 Apr 2022Synonyms: zarb
tombak2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA type of goblet drum used heavily in Persian music.
nounA brass alloy also known as red-bronze, usually containing 82-99% copper and the rest usually zinc.
More synonyms by meaning
nounan alloy of copper and zinc (and sometimes arsenic) used to imitate gold in cheap jewelry and for gilding
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
tombak · noun
- Persianتنبک
- Englishtombak
Borrowed from Persian تنبک (tonbak). Doublet of dumbek.
More words from Persian
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish tombak, tombak
- tombaktype of goblet drum
- tombakbrass with zinc content below 28%
Finnish darbuka, tompakki
- darbukatype of goblet drum
- tompakkibrass with zinc content below 28%
French tombak, tombac
- tombaktype of goblet drum
- tombacbrass with zinc content below 28%
German Tombak, Tombak
- Tombaktype of goblet drum
- Tombakbrass with zinc content below 28%
Italian darabouka, tombacco
- daraboukatype of goblet drum
- tombaccobrass with zinc content below 28%
- similorobrass with zinc content below 28%
Malay tembaga
- tembagabrass with zinc content below 28%
Persian تنبک
- تنبک (tonbak)type of goblet drum
Portuguese darabuca, darbuca
- darabucatype of goblet drum
- darbucatype of goblet drum
- tambaquebrass with zinc content below 28%
- tambacabrass with zinc content below 28%
Russian томпа́к, томпа́к
- томпа́к (tompák)type of goblet drum
- томпа́к (tompák)brass with zinc content below 28%
Swedish tombak, tombak
- tombaktype of goblet drum
- tombakbrass with zinc content below 28%
Turkish darbuka, tombak
- darbukatype of goblet drum
- tombakbrass with zinc content below 28%
Yiddish טאָמבאַק
- טאָמבאַק (tombak)brass with zinc content below 28%
Cite this entry
tombak. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tombak
“tombak.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tombak. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tombak,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tombak.
Source: tombak on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.