djembe
/ˈd͡ʒɛmbeɪ/
djembe noun: a large, rope-tuned, skin-covered drum played with the bare hands, used in West African and some fusion music.
Noun
djembe (plural djembes)
- A large, rope-tuned, skin-covered drum played with the bare hands, used in West African and some fusion music.
- There are three principal types of traditional drums in Guinean Sousou culture: the djembe, the dundun, and the tama. The djembe is a single-headed goblet-shaped drum with a relatively high-pitched tone.2007, Karin Gaynell Patterson, Expressions of Africa in Los Angeles Public Performance, 1781—1994, page 133
- The djembe is one of the best-known and popular African drums, particular with those in the West who are interested in learning a drumming tradition.2009, Tamara Dean, Composition for Computer Musicians, page 51
djembe meaning in Indonesian
djembe in Indonesian
- a large drum played with the hands
- jimbe
Examples of djembe in a sentence
- The djembe has become the most recognizable drum from West Africa, with a history that can be traced to the twelfth century Mali Empire and the Mandinka people.2010, Randy Raine-Reusch, Play the World: The 101 World Instrument Primer, page 91:
- Lack of roundness is not a problem for sound: many such djembes sound excellent.2012, Michi Henning, Djembe Construction: A Comprehensive Guide, page 13:
Forms of djembe
| plural | djembes |
|---|---|
| alternative form | djembé |
| alternative form | jembe |
| alternative form | jenbe |
| alternative form | djimbe |
| alternative form | jimbe |
| alternative form | dyinbe |
Origin of djembe
From French djembé, from Mandinka jembe which derives from the Bambara language, "djé" is the verb for "gather" and "bé" translates as "peace." As a result, "Anke djé, anke bé" which translates to "everyone gather together in peace" and defines the drum's purpose.
Questions about djembe
- What does djembe mean?
- Djembe means a large, rope-tuned, skin-covered drum played with the bare hands, used in West African and some fusion music.
- What is djembe in Indonesian?
- Djembe in Indonesian is jimbe. See Djembe meaning in Indonesian.
- How do you use djembe in a sentence?
- The djembe has become the most recognizable drum from West Africa, with a history that can be traced to the twelfth century Mali Empire and the Mandinka people.
- What part of speech is djembe?
- Djembe is a noun.
- How do you pronounce djembe?
- Djembe is pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɛmbeɪ/.
- What is the plural of djembe?
- The plural of djembe is djembes.
Words near djembe in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: djembe (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “djembe.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/djembe. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.