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Glite Dictionary
button accordion

button accordion

6.9
A musical instrument with a folding part that you push and pull while pressing buttons to play notes
  • noun
  • /ˈbʌtən əˈkɔːrdiən/
translation icon : acordeón de botones
  • Another slopeside picture shows a fellow playing a button accordion while a friend plays the fiddle.
  • playing a button accordion

Examples

  • Yours, from the company's Venezia line, is a button accordion, meaning the melody-side keyboard consists of a series of buttons rather than piano-style keys.

  • The ensemble consists of four instruments: a diatonic button accordion (Photo 1), a bajo sexto (twelve-string guitar), guitar or bass guitar, and drums.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Grandmother Myla played her button accordion, and they sang Christmas carols to get in the mood for the holiday season.

Synonyms

accordion
vsbutton accordion
33 5.6

A portable instrument you play by pushing and pulling a folded case with keys and buttons to make music

is a specific form that uses only buttons rather than piano-like keys

How Complex

button accordion
6.9
accordion
33 5.6

Surface Forms

button accordion singular
button accordions plural

Morphology

button + accordion

The compound 'button accordion' is directly compositional: 'button' specifies the type of 'accordion' (one that uses buttons rather than piano keys). This follows a regular noun-modifier pattern common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words can readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Button accordion comes from the instrument's look: it is an accordion you play with rows of small buttons instead of piano keys. So, the name simply describes the instrument we mean today — an accordion 'with buttons' rather than 'piano' keys.