Adjacent Words

Violin definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

VI'OLIN, n.
A musical instrument with four strings, played with a bow; a fiddle; one of the most perfect and most powerful instruments that has been invented.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: bowed stringed instrument that is the highest member of the violin family; this instrument has four strings and a hollow body and an unfretted fingerboard and is played with a bow [syn: violin, fiddle]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Italian violino, diminutive of viola Date: circa 1576 a bowed stringed instrument having four strings tuned at intervals of a fifth and a usual range from G below middle C upward for more than 4 1/2 octaves and having a shallow body, shoulders at right angles to the neck, a fingerboard without frets, and a curved bridge • violinist noun • violinistic adjective

Britannica Concise

Family of bowed stringed instruments consisting of the violin, viola, cello, and double bass. The instrument called the violin is the family's highest-pitched member. It has a fretless fingerboard, four strings, and a distinctively shaped wooden body whose "waist" permits freedom of bowing. It is held on the shoulder and bowed with the right hand. It has a wide range of over four octaves. It evolved in Italy in the 16th cent. from the medieval fiddle and other instruments. Its average proportions were settled by the 17th cent., but innovations in the 18th-19th cent. increased its tonal power. With its brilliance, agility, and singing tone, the violin has been immensely important in Western art music, and it has the largest and most distinguished repertoire of any stringed instrument, including thousands of concertos. From the mid-17th cent. it has been the foundation of the symphony orchestra, which today usually includes 20-26 violins, and is also widely used in chamber music and as a solo instrument. It is played as a folk instrument in many countries, folk violins being often called fiddles.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a musical instrument with four strings of treble pitch played with a bow. 2 a violin-player. Derivatives: violinist n. Etymology: It. violino dimin. of VIOLA(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Violin Vi`o*lin", n. [It. violino, dim. of viola. See Viol.] (Mus.) A small instrument with four strings, played with a bow; a fiddle. Note: The violin is distinguished for the brilliancy and gayety, as well as the power and variety, of its tones, and in the orchestra it is the leading and most important instrument.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(violins) A violin is a musical instrument. Violins are made of wood and have four strings. You play the violin by holding it under your chin and moving a bow across the strings. Lizzie used to play the violin. N-VAR: oft the N

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Fiddle, kit.

Moby Thesaurus

A string, Amati, Cremona, D string, E string, G string, Strad, Stradivari, Stradivarius, bass, bass viol, bow, bridge, bull fiddle, cello, contrabass, crowd, double bass, fiddle, fiddlebow, fiddlestick, fingerboard, kit, kit fiddle, kit violin, scroll, soundboard, string, tenor violin, tuning peg, viola, violinette, violoncello, violoncello piccolo, violone, violotta