mbira

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mbira

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Shona mbira (“thumb piano”).

noun mbiras

A thumb piano, a musical instrument having a small sound box fitted with a row of tuned tabs that are plucked with the thumbs, originating among the Shona of southern Africa; any type of plucked lamellophone of the same type as the Shona instrument. Typical instruments used for making traditional Sierra Leonean music include bench drums, or gumbe; other drums; a kind of xylophone called the balangi; and a type of piano called the sansa (also known as a kalimba or mbira) that is played with the thumb.
Similar: finger piano, sanza, thumb piano

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MLA

"mbira." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mbira. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

mbira. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mbira

Chicago

"mbira." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mbira.

BibTeX

@misc{mbira_2026,
  title = {mbira},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mbira},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}