violin means 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.
violin is pronounced /ˌvaɪ.əˈlɪn/.
Why “violin” is a great word
A small, unfretted stringed instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths from G to E, played by drawing a bow across its strings while held beneath the chin. From Italian violino, a diminutive of viola, which traces to Medieval Latin *vitula ("stringed instrument"), possibly linked to Latin vitula ("a calf") or vitulari ("to be joyful"); the word entered English in the 1570s. Unlike "viola," its larger and deeper-voiced sibling, or "fiddle," a name evoking folk tunes and rustic reels, the violin carries the weight of cultivated precision. It is the focused pressure of horsehair on gut, the amber glow of varnish on aged spruce, and the singular voice that can slice through an orchestra's swell to weep or exult alone—a wooden box strung with nerve endings, made to articulate the precise geometry of human feeling.
Etymology
Derived from Italian violino (“little viola”), from viola + -ino.
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.e.g.“When I play it like this, it's a fiddle; when I play it like this, it's a violin.”
- Any instrument of the violin family, always inclusive of violins, violas and cellos, and sometimes further including the double bass.e.g.“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.”
- A violinist in an orchestra or group.e.g.“The violins are seated with sufficient elbow room.”
verb
- To play on, or as if on, a violin.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- viol 70% match — A stringed instrument related to the violin family, but held in the lap between the legs like a cello, usually with C-holes, a flat back, a fretted neck and six strings, played with an underhanded bow hold. vs violin →
- cello 66% match — A large unfretted stringed instrument of the violin family with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) C-G-D-A and an endpin to support its weight, usually played with a bow. vs violin →
- violone 65% match — An early stringed instrument similar to a double bass. vs violin →
- vielle 63% match — A medieval stringed instrument similar to a violin. vs violin →
- violer 62% match — A musician who plays the viol. vs violin →
- violist 62% match — A person who plays the viol. vs violin →
- violar 61% match — A viol player. vs violin →
- violinistically 60% match — In violinistic terms; with regard to playing the violin. vs violin →