tumbao

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noun

The basic rhythm played on the conga drum and the bass in Afro-Cuban music.

OriginSpanish tumbar →
Scrabble 10
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Meanings

nountumbao (plural tumbaos)

plural tumbaos

  1. entertainmentThe basic rhythm played on the conga drum and the bass in Afro-Cuban music.

    After all, its encore introduced some new musical elements, including a pulse faintly suggestive of an Afro-Cuban tumbao.

    2007 February 12, Nate Chinen, “A Flamenco Master Is His Own Ensemble”, in New York Times

Origin

  1. Spanishtumbar“to knock off, fall”
  2. Englishtumbao

From Cuban Spanish tumbar (“to knock off, fall”).

More words from Spanish

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

tambou
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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