from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Xylophone \Xy"lo*phone\, n. [Xylo- + Gr. fwnh` sound.]
[1913 Webster]
1. (Mus.) Originally, an instrument common among the
Russians, Poles, and Tartars, consisting of a series of
strips of wood or glass graduated in length to the musical
scale, resting on belts of straw, and struck with two
small hammers; now any similar musical instrument composed
of a series of bars of graduated length. Called in Germany
{strohfiedel}, or {straw fiddle}.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
2. An instrument to determine the vibrative properties of
different kinds of wood. --Knight.
[1913 Webster]