baryton

noun

bar·​y·​ton

ˈber-ə-ˌtän,

ˈba-rə-

plural barytons

1

: a stringed instrument of the 17th and 18th centuries similar to the bass viol with a fretted fingerboard, six or seven bowed strings, and numerous sympathetic strings behind them

He also had to provide music of all kinds for the establishment, and composed … a hundred and seventy-five works featuring the baryton, the Prince's favored instrument.

—Andrew Porter, New Yorker, 22 Apr. 1991

2

usually Baryton [borrowed from German] : an organ reed stop of 8- or 16-foot pitch

barytonist

ˈber-ə-ˌtä-nist

ˈba-rə-

noun

plural barytonists

Even in today's "authentic instrument" climate you don't exactly run across barytonists every day.

—Barrymore Laurence Scherer, Wall Street Journal, 26 Aug. 1997

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French & German; French baryton, borrowed from German, literally, "baritone" (in various senses), borrowed from Italian baritono

First Known Use

1878, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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