Primary
''percussion'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260313192858-00-⌔
percussion - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Noun
percussion (countable and uncountable, plural percussions)
- (countable) The collision of two bodies in order to produce a sound.
- (countable) The sound so produced.
- (countable) The detonation of a percussion cap in a firearm.
- (medicine) The tapping of the body as an aid to medical diagnosis.
- (music) The section of an orchestra or band containing percussion instruments; such instruments considered as a group; in bands, may be separate from drum kits.
- (engineering) The repeated striking of an object to break or shape it, as in percussion drilling.
- ✤ Moreover, a perfect Medal has its Profile and out-ſtroaks ſharp (Nummus aſper) and by no means rugged; the Figures clean and well poliſh’d; the Contours neatly trimm’d, and exactly round and carefully preſerv’d; that the Extancy and Relievos correſpond with the Ingraving, and have not ſuffer’d in Percuſſion; in all which, there is a certain Spirit of Antiquity and Excellency to be diſcern’d in Antient Medals almoſt inimitable.1
- (palmistry) The outer side of the hand.
Etymology
From Middle English percussioun, from Middle French, Old French percussion, from Latin percussiō (“striking”), from percutiō (“to strike”).
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA: /pɚˈkʌʃən/
- Audio (General American): 🔊
- Rhymes: -ʌʃən
Printed 2026-06-28.
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Link to original Footnotes
1697, J[ohn] Evelyn, “Instructions How to Collect, and Procure such Medals as are Antique, and Rare; and to Distinguish the True from the False, for the Prevention of Frauds and Impostures”, in Numismata. A Discourse of Medals, Antient and Modern. […], London: […] Benj[amin] Tooke […], →OCLC, page 201: ↩
Secondary
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