Meanings
plural trombas marina
- entertainmentA Middle Ages European string instrument with a long, slender and triangular-shaped body, featuring one main string and sometimes additional sympathetic strings, known for an extremely loud sound making it useful for signalling between ships, and for a distinctive ethereal tone (harmonic overtones) created by the player fingering the string at precise intervals below the point where the string is to be bowed, rather than above as most similar instruments.
Synonyms: marine trumpet, trumpet marine
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA Middle Ages European string instrument with a long, slender and triangular-shaped body, featuring one main string and sometimes additional sympathetic strings, known for an extremely loud sound making it useful for signalling between ships, and for a distinctive ethereal tone (harmonic overtones) created by the player fingering the string at precise intervals below the point where the string is to be bowed, rather than above as most similar instruments.
Origin
From Italian, meaning "marine trumpet". * The tromba may originate in a comparison to the valveless trumpet of the Middle Ages, which produced harmonic overtones like the tromba marina, or as a reference to the unique trumpet-like rasping sound created by the intentionally loose bridge of the instrument vibrating against its face. The marina may refer to the Virgin Mary, perhaps because the instrument was played by nuns in convents.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
tromba marina. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tromba%20marina
“tromba marina.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tromba%20marina. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tromba marina,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tromba%20marina.
Source: tromba marina on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.