A musical or decorative item made from a hollow animal bone, sometimes used as a percussion instrument.
Uncertain etymology, possibly from 'gamb' (leg in heraldry and old English) + '-one' (diminutive or object suffix), or alternatively a variant of an Italian or medieval term for a bone-based instrument.
Gambone appears in very old musical instrument catalogs, suggesting medieval musicians made percussion tools from bones—which is one of humanity's oldest musical traditions! The exact origins are murky, making it one of those wonderful forgotten words that hints at lost practices.
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