Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small hand drum of northern India.
  • noun A pair of drums, differing in size and tone, played together.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun music A pair of tuned hand drums; used in various musical genres of the Indian subcontinent, that are similar to bongos.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Hindi tablā, from Arabic ṭabla, from Aramaic ṭabl, drum, perhaps of Persian origin; akin to Middle Persian tumbag, drum.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Hindi तबला (tablā), from Arabic طبل (tabl). Cognate of Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese tambor.

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Examples

  • In addition to the instrument itself, the term tabla is often used in reference to this knowledge and the process of its transmission.

    Archive 2009-10-01 photographerno1 2009

  • The term tabla is derived from an Arabic word, tabl, which simply means "drum."

    Archive 2009-10-01 photographerno1 2009

  • The main distinction of the tabla is the pairing of two different types of single-headed drums, whereas the dukkar, dukra, and duggi are pairs of the same type and the mridangam and dhol are double-headed, barrel-shaped drums.

    Archive 2009-10-01 photographerno1 2009

  • His bands moved between the Asian drum called a tabla and Western instruments like the accordion, and he sang of love, explicitly.

    NPR Topics: News 2010

  • His bands moved between the Asian drum called a tabla and Western instruments like the accordion, and he sang of love, explicitly.

    NPR Topics: News 2010

  • His bands moved between the Asian drum called a tabla and Western instruments like the accordion, and he sang of love, explicitly.

    NPR Topics: News 2010

  • Mukta is the first-call tabla-maker to provide the instrument for Ustad Zakir Hussain when he is in town.

    The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) - Frontpage 2010

  • His bands moved between the Asian drum called a tabla and Western instruments like the accordion, and he sang of love, explicitly.

    NPR Topics: News 2010

  • His bands moved between the Asian drum called a tabla and Western instruments like the accordion, and he sang of love, explicitly.

    NPR Topics: News 2010

  • To call tabla a mere percussion instrument alone would be a vast understatement of its musical range, as one of the most revered of all classical Indian musical instruments.

    KVR News: Top Stories 2009

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