tambourine

Tambourine comes from French tambourin, meaning 'little drum,' itself from French tambour, 'drum.' That word traces back further to Arabic ṭunbūr, related to the Persian tanbūr.

The word moved from a general Arabic and Persian term into French, where it narrowed into tambour ('drum') and then tambourin, a diminutive naming a smaller drum — the shape English borrowed directly.

It shares its root with tambour, the plain French word for 'drum,' from which tambourine was diminutively formed.