kora

noun

ko·​ra ˈkȯr-ə 

: a 21-stringed African musical instrument resembling a lute

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Morning sun filters into the monastery church as the melodic twang of two harplike instruments – known as koras – fills the air, combining with the voices of two dozen singing monks. —Guy Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 May 2023

The kora, a West African stringed instrument that sounds like a lute or a harp, became a key element of the score, as did traditional African drums like the sabar and djembe. —Jon Burlingame, Variety, 11 Nov. 2022

Until the temple is reopened fully, Vanhoebrouck urges travelers to walk around the temple a few times, also called a kora -- a meditative pilgrimage that involves repeatedly circling around a sacred site in a clockwise direction. —Maggie Hiufu Wong, CNN, 28 Oct. 2022

My father’s favorite sound was the sound of the kora, a harp-like instrument with twenty-one strings held taut between a wooden neck and a calabash body. —Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2021

There will be Afro-Cuban jazz, bluegrass, chamber music, Senegalese kora playing, Mexican son jarocho and much more. —Beth Wood Writer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2021

Called Korapiano, the new piece draws inspiration from the kora — a type of African harp — and uses West African folk tunes. —Tim Diovanni, Dallas News, 16 June 2021

Sissoko is one of Mali’s most famous players of the kora, a traditional string instrument that was played in royal courts and is now celebrated around the world. —Joe Penney, Quartz Africa, 6 Feb. 2020

This set is an electric affair for Touré, who normally plays acoustically and with more-traditional West African instruments like the forefather of the banjo, the kora. —Paul De Revere, Billboard, 28 Apr. 2018

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Word History

Etymology

Malinke

First Known Use

1799, in the meaning defined above