percussion

Etymology

From Middle French, Old French percussion, from Latin percussiō (“striking”), from percutiō (“I strike”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɚˈkʌʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌʃən

Noun

percussion (countable and uncountable, plural percussions)

1. (countable) The collision of two bodies in order to produce a sound.
2. (countable) The sound so produced.
3. (countable) The detonation of a percussion cap in a firearm.
4. (medicine) The tapping of the body as an aid to medical diagnosis.
5. (music) The section of an orchestra or band containing percussion instruments; such instruments considered as a group; in bands, may be separate from drum kits.
6. (engineering) The repeated striking of an object to break or shape it, as in percussion drilling.

Anagrams

• coin purses, croupiness, supersonic

Noun

percussion f (plural percussions)

1. percussion (tapping of the body)
2. (music) percussion

Further reading

• “percussion” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).