violin
/ˌvaɪ.əˈlɪn/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.74 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
noun
Any instrument of the violin family, always inclusive of violins, violas and cellos, and sometimes further including the double bass.
verb
To play on, or as if on, a violin.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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."
- "The violins are seated with sufficient elbow room."
- "She is first violin in the London Symphony Orchestra."
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.