The word timbre originally meant kettle drum and postage stamp

Evidence

Timbre—means kettledrum, helmet, coat of arms with helmet; in French it means “postage stamp.” Ellis concluded that “timbre is a foreign word, often mispronounced and not worth preserving.” — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1499

Categorization

• DEFINE: Gives the pre-acoustic meanings of a term now central to psychoacoustics.
• CANDY: The technical term for tone color literally once meant a postage stamp in French — a genuinely tweetable etymological oddity.
• SHARE: Perfect for a stamp-collecting or music-nerd friend who’d enjoy that ‘timbre’ once meant kettledrum and postage stamp.
• XREF: connects to: The word timbre derives from klangfarbe meaning color of tone; The English term timbre entered music through poor translation alternatives — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1521; The English word timbre derives from a contested translation of German klangfarbe.

Broader Connections

• The word timbre derives from klangfarbe meaning color of tone #complicates (0.85)
• The English word timbre derives from a contested translation of German klangfarbe. #complicates (0.85)
• The English term timbre entered music through poor translation alternatives #complicates (0.80) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1521