Folk cimbalom (dulcimer type). The hungarian word cimbalom is first mentioned in the 1416 Vienna Codex, however this mentioning does not refer to a percussion string instrument, because the Latin term cymbalum originally denoted a plate shaped percussion instrument. The dulcimer (henceforward cimbalom) evolved in the 15th century from the psaltery, which was a plucked zither without fingerboard. The cimbalom has been known in Hungary since the 16th century, however, it only spread during the 18th century with the emergence of gypsy bands.
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