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shawm

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shawm

[shawm]
–noun
an early musical woodwind instrument with a double reed: the forerunner of the modern oboe.

Origin:
1300–50; ME schalme < MF chaume < L calamus stalk, reed < Gk kálamos reed; r. ME schallemele < MF chalemel (see chalumeau )
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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shawm   (shôm)   
n.  Any of various early double-reed wind instruments, forerunners of the modern oboe.

[Middle English schalme, from Old French chalemie, alteration of chalemel, from Late Latin calamellus, diminutive of Latin calamus, reed, from Greek kalamos.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

shawm 
"medieval oboe-like instrument," c.1350, schalmeis (pl.), also schallemele (1390), from O.Fr. chalemie, chalemel, from L.L. calamellus, lit. "a small reed," dim. of L. calamus "reed," from Gk. kalamos. Mistaken as a plural and trimmed of its "-s" ending from c.1450.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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