Definition

1. Noun:
   • A free-reed keyboard instrument: A harmonium is a musical instrument in which air is pumped by foot-operated bellows through a set of free metal reeds to produce sound. It typically has a keyboard similar to that of a piano or organ.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The small chapel had a harmonium instead of a pipe organ.
  • She practiced her hymns on the old harmonium in the living room.

Advanced Usage

• As a specific type of instrument: The term "harmonium" often refers specifically to the smaller, portable, reed organ common in homes, chapels, and in Indian classical music, as opposed to larger, more complex pipe organs.
  • The traveling preacher carried a folding harmonium to his services.

Variants and Related Words

• Reed organ (n): A more general term for keyboard instruments that produce sound via freely vibrating reeds, including the harmonium.
  • The museum's collection included a 19th-century reed organ.

Synonyms

• Pump organ: A common synonym, emphasizing the action of pumping the bellows.
• Melodeon: (Note: This can sometimes refer to a specific, often smaller, type of harmonium or a different button-accordion-like instrument; context is key.)

Related Phrases

• To play the harmonium: The standard phrase for performing on the instrument.
  • He learned to play the harmonium from his grandfather.

Noun

1. a free-reed instrument in which air is forced through the reeds by bellows