violin
nounverbcommon in dialogue
- //ˌvaɪ.əˈlɪn//
- //ˈʋaɪᵊ.lɪn//
- //ˌvaɪ.oʊˈlin//
- /[ˌwaʊˈlin]/
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
- 1
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.
- 2
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.
- 3
A violinist in an orchestra or group.
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.
verb
- 1
To play on, or as if on, a violin.
Forms
- plural
- violins
- past tense
- violined
- past participle
- violined
- present participle
- violining
- third person singular
- violins
violin · 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.
viper · A venomous snake in the family Viperidae.viral · Of or relating to a biological virus.virgil · Synonym of slash ⟨/⟩.