Etymograph

English

timba

Timba comes from Spanish timba ‘bucket’, and goes back to Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *timba.

  1. Proto-Malayo-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*timba1reconstructed
  2. Tagalogmoderntimba1‘bucket’
  3. Spanishc. 1500–presenttimba1‘bucket’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2009timba1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English timba
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2009, Ben Ratliff, Salsa, Timba and a Dance-Happy String Quartet: “Mr. Grau’s band doesn’t play classicized salsa and timba.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Malayo-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*timbaWiktionary, English timbareconstructed
  2. TagalogmoderntimbaWiktionary, English timba‘bucket’
  3. Spanishc. 1500–presenttimbaWiktionary, English timba‘bucket’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2009timbaWiktionary, English timba. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2009, Ben Ratliff, Salsa, Timba and a Dance-Happy String Quartet: “Mr. Grau’s band doesn’t play classicized salsa and timba.”

Every English word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *timba

Today it means

noun A Cuban salsa-derived style of music.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “timba”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *timba / timba

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