fife
n. countablen. a small, high-pitched flute that people often play in military bands. It looks like a simple wooden tube with holes and is played by blowing across a hole at the side.
n. a small, shrill, transverse flute with six to eight finger holes, traditionally used in military and marching bands. Often associated with historical infantry units and folk music.
The soldier played a lively tune on his fife.
During the historical reenactment, the sound of the fife and drum could be heard from across the field.
The piercing timbre of the fife was specifically designed to carry over the din of 18th-century battlefields, allowing commanders to signal maneuvers to their troops through music.
Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic Fìobha, said to date back to the eponym Fib, one of the seven sons of the legendary Pictish king Cruithne. Possibly related to the Uip attested in the Pictish kings lists, in turn possibly related to the Latin Vepogenus, in which the first element is the Proto-Brythonic predecessor of Welsh gwep (“face”).
Often appears in the fixed phrase 'fife and drum'.