fiddle
/ˈfɪdl̩/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.43 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A violin, a small unfretted stringed instrument with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) G-D-A-E, usually held against the chin, shoulder, chest or on the upper thigh and played with a bow (see also usage notes below).
noun
Any of various other bowed stringed instruments, particularly those of the violin family when played non-classically.
noun
Something resembling a violin, or fiddle, in shape
noun
Something resembling a violin, or fiddle, in shape
noun
Something resembling a violin, or fiddle, in shape
noun
A clown; an unserious person entertaining a group.
Example Sentences
- "...Of harpe & of salteriun. of fiðele & of coriun..."
- "Johnny, rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard 'Cause Hell's broke loose in Georgia an' the Devil deals the cards..."
- "When I play it like this, it's a fiddle; when I play it like that, it's a violin."
- "The fiddle of these early times, however, was the viol and not our modern violin."
- "He is first fiddle in the band."
- "You would not have your Son the Fiddle to every jovial Company."
Etymology
From Middle English fithele, from Old English *fiþele, from Proto-West Germanic *fiþulā, from Proto-Germanic *fiþulǭ (“fiddle”), of uncertain etymology. Some contest that the Germanic terms are borrowed variations of Late Latin vitula (see viola); others contest that the word has a separate origin within Germanic languages, and still others believe that the Late Latin term for the stringed instrument is a borrowing from Germanic as a change of Latin t to Germanic þ is highly improbable, yet Germanic þ to Latin t is well documented (see troop, trousers, Teobaldo, etc.). Cognate with Old High German fidula (German Fiedel), Middle Dutch vedele (Dutch vedel, veel), Old Norse fiðla (Icelandic fiðla, Danish fiddel, Norwegian fela, Swedish fela). The change from /ðl/ to /dl/ in modern English is regular; compare Bedlam, staddle, swaddle (in brothel, it was prevented; see that entry for discussion).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: fithele, *fiþele, *fiþulā, *fiþulǭ
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfɪdl̩/
- British English: /ˈfɪd(ə)l/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
fiddleback
fiddlecome
fiddledeedee
fiddlehead
fiddleist
fiddleleaf
fiddlement
fiddleneck
fiddler
fiddlery
fiddles
fiddlesome
Phrases
Apache fiddle
bass fiddle
bull fiddle
face as long as a fiddle
face like a fiddle
face made of a fiddle
fiddleback wood
fiddle beetle