violin meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

violin

noun

/ˌvaɪ.əˈlɪn/ · South-Asia /ˈʋaɪᵊ.lɪn/

Etymology

Etymology tree Medieval Latin *vitulader. Old Occitan violabor.? Italian viola Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos Proto-Italic *-īnos Latin -īnus Italian -ino Italian violinoder. English violin Derived from Italian violino (“little viola”), from viola + -ino.

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music A small unfretted stringed instrument with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) G-D-A-E, usually held against the chin and played with a bow.

When I play it like this, it's a fiddle; when I play it like this, it's a violin.
She was looking more like Sherlock Holmes than ever. Slap a dressing-gown on her and give her a violin, and she could have walked straight into Baker Street and no questions asked.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

Proscribed, Sometimes Any instrument of the violin family, always inclusive of violins, violas and cellos, and sometimes further including the double bass.

The string quartet, one of the most popular groupings in chamber music, is composed entirely of violins: two violins proper, one viola, and one cello.

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music Metonymically A violinist in an orchestra or group.

The violins are seated with sufficient elbow room.
She is first violin in the London Symphony Orchestra.

Synonyms: fiddle, crowd
Derived terms: bass violin, Chinese violin, electric violin, false violin spider, first violin, horn violin, horn-violin, kit violin, kit-violin, nail violin, piano-violin, play someone like a violin, second violin, Stroh violin, violinist, violin maker, violin plot, violin spider, world's smallest violin, world's tiniest violin
Related terms: viol, viola, violoncello

violin

verb

Etymology

Ambitransitive To play on, or as if on, a violin.

Related terms: bass viol, cello, double bass, viola