abengn.
/əˈbɛŋ/, U.S. /əˈbɛŋ/, Caribbean English /aˈbɛŋ/, /ˈabɛŋ/ Jamaican.
A type of bugle made from a cow horn, used by the maroons as a musical instrument and to send signals.
ΚΠ
1890 H. T. Thomas Untrodden Jamaica 28 The Maroons have a regular code of signals for the abeng, which they guard with the utmost jealousy.
1927 H. T. Thomas Story W. Indian Policeman xvii. 283 The sound of the ‘abeng’, the cow's horn by means of which they signal to each other.
1961 F. G. Cassidy Jamaica Talk xll. 263 Horns have always been important—the abeng, for example.
1988 Chicago Tribune 30 Mar. i. 18/6 They still rally the Maroons for miles by blowing on two horns called abengs, one of which they claim is an original brought by Maroon from Africa.
2009 I. Thomson Dead Yard xvi. 214 He stood up, staggered slightly, then disappeared a moment down a hall to fetch an abeng. ‘I use it for bugling,’ he explained, lifting it to his lips.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1890