bandleader en · NOUN
Etymology
Etymology tree English band Proto-West Germanic *laidī Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Proto-West Germanic *laid ▲ Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī Old English lǣdere Middle English ledere English leader English bandleader From band + leader.
Meanings
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A musician who conducts or leads a band of musicians.
Before Brooklyn became the World Historical Hipster Hub, there were the Hepsters of Harlem. And well before there was an Urban Dictionary for every last nuance of non-standard English, the bandleader and amateur linguist Cab Calloway cataloged some of the unique speech of the 1930s and ’40s in his Hepster’s Dictionary.
2010 July 9, J. David Goodman, “Of Local History and Hepcats”, in New York Times City Room, archived from the original on 20 Feb 2025:By and large back then, bassists weren’t bandleaders; Mingus was an anomaly.
2024 May 1, Marcus J. Moore, “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Jazz Bass”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 06 Jun 2024:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| bandleaders | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| band leader | alternative | lexicographic |
Synonyms
Translations (3)
el αρχιμουσικός (musician who leads a band of musicians) · nl bandleider (musician who leads a band of musicians) · cs kapelník (musician who leads a band of musicians)