bassoon, bass on

[In Sw. ba ong; Dan. & Dut. ba on; Fr. ba on; Sp. bazon; Port. baixao; Ital. fagotto a fagot, so called from its similarity in appearance to a bundle of sticks.] 1. A reed instrument of the "double-reed" cla , forming in ordinary orchestras the tenor and ba of the wood-wind band. It BASSOON. has a compa of about three octaves, commencing at the note B flat below the ba stave. "The wedding guest here beat his breast, For he heard the loud ba oon ." Cole ridge: Ancient Mariner. 2. An organ-stop of a quality of tone similar to the orchestral instrument. 3. A series of free reeds on a harmonium or kindred instrument, of a like quality of tone bas-soon-ist, s. [Eng. ba oon ; -ist.] A musician whose instrument is the ba oon. Băs-sor-a, Bus-sor-ah, s. & a. [From Arab . basra = a margin.] A. As substantive : A frontier city of Asiatic Turkey on the Shat-el Arab (river of the Arabs), made by the junction of the Euphrates and the Tigris into one stream. It is about seventy miles from the Persian Gulf. B. As adj .: Pertaining to Ba ora. Ba ora-gum, s. Gum brought from Ba ora. It is supposed to be derived either from a Cactus or a Mesembryanthemum.