bas·soon [bassoonbassoons] BrE [bəˈsuːn] NAmE [bəˈsuːn] noun a musical instrument of the ↑woodwind group. It is shaped like a large wooden tube with a double ↑reed that you blow into, and produces notes with a low sound.
Word Origin: early 18th cent.: from French basson, from Italian bassone, from basso ‘low’, from Latin bassus ‘short, low’.