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Webster 1913 Edition
Shawm
Shawm
,Noun.
[OE.
shalmie
, OF. chalemie
; cf. F. chalumeau
shawm, chaume
haulm, stalk; all fr. L. calamus
a reed, reed pipe. See Haulm
, and cf. Calumet
.] (Mus.)
A wind instrument of music, formerly in use, supposed to have resembled either the clarinet or the hautboy in form.
[Written also
shalm
, shaum
.] Otway.
Even from the shrillest
shaum
unto the cornamute. Drayton.