percussion

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (General American):

  (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.
   • 1697, J[ohn] Evelyn, “Instructions How to Collect, and Procure such Medals as are Antique, and Rare; and to Distinguish the True from the False, for the Prevention of Frauds and Impostures”, in Numismata. A Discourse of Medals, Antient and Modern. […], London: […] Benj[amin] Tooke […], →OCLC, page 201:

     Moreover, a perfect Medal has its Profile and out-ſtroaks ſharp (Nummus aſper) and by no means rugged; the Figures clean and well poliſh'd; the Contours neatly trimm'd, and exactly round and carefully preſerv'd; that the Extancy and Relievos correſpond with the Ingraving, and have not ſuffer'd in Percuſſion; in all which, there is a certain Spirit of Antiquity and Excellency to be diſcern'd in Antient Medals almoſt inimitable.

7. (palmistry) The outer side of the hand.

Derived terms

• hand percussion
• percussional
• percussion break
• percussion bullet
• percussion cap
• percussion fuse
• percussion hammer
• percussion idiophone
• percussion instrument
• percussionist
• percussion lock
• percussively

Related terms

• quash

Translations

collision producing a sound

Bulgarian: стълкновение (bg) n (stǎlknovenie) Catalan: percussió f Chinese: Mandarin: 擊發 / 击发 (zh) (jīfā) Finnish: lyönti (fi) Galician: percusión (gl) f Hungarian: összeütés, ütés (hu), ütközés (hu), összeütközés (hu), ütődés (hu), összeütődés, lökés (hu), rázkódás (hu) Icelandic: samsláttur m, sláttur (is) m, barningur (is) m Russian: столкнове́ние (ru) n (stolknovénije), уда́р (ru) m (udár)

sound produced by collision

Catalan: percussió f Chinese: Mandarin: 擊發的聲音 / 击发的声音 (jīfā de shēngyīn) Finnish: lyöntiääni Hungarian: csattanás (hu) Icelandic: please add this translation if you can

detonation of percussion cap

Hungarian: gyutacs felrobbanása

medicine: tapping of the body

Bulgarian: причукване n (pričukvane) Catalan: percussió f Danish: perkussion c Finnish: koputtelu (fi) Hungarian: kopogtatás (hu) Indonesian: perkusi (id), ketukan (id) Norwegian: Bokmål: perkusjon m Nynorsk: perkusjon m Russian: высту́кивание (ru) n (vystúkivanije), перку́ссия (ru) f (perkússija) Turkish: perküsyon (tr)

music: section of percussion instruments

Arabic: آلَة إِيقَاعِيَّة (ʔāla ʔīqāʕiyya) Bulgarian: ударни инструменти m pl (udarni instrumenti) Catalan: percussió f Chinese: Mandarin: 打擊樂器 / 打击乐器 (zh) (dǎjī yuèqì) Czech: bicí Danish: slagtøj n, percussion c Finnish: lyömäsoittimet (fi) pl, lyömäsoitinryhmä French: percussion (fr) f German: Perkussion (de) f Hungarian: ütőhangszer (hu), ütősök pl, ütők (hu) pl Icelandic: slagverk n Irish: cnaguirlis f Maori: papā Norwegian: Bokmål: slagverk n, perkusjon m Nynorsk: slagverk n, perkusjon m Polish: perkusja (pl) f Portuguese: percussão (pt) f Russian: уда́рный инструме́нт m (udárnyj instrumént) (percussion instrument) Spanish: percusión (es) f Tagalog: pagtambulin

engineering: repeated striking

Finnish: tärytys (fi)

Anagrams

• coin purses, croupiness, supersonic

French

Etymology

From Latin percussiōnem.

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

percussion f (plural percussions)

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

Descendants

• → Turkish: perküsyon

Further reading

• “percussion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.