violin

English Online Dictionary. What means violin‎? What does violin mean?

English

Etymology

From Italian violino (“little viola”), from viola + -ino (“forming diminutives”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌvaɪəˈlɪn/
• (Hong Kong) IPA^(key): /ˌvaɪ.oʊˈlin/, [ˌwaʊˈlin]
• Rhymes: -ɪn

Noun

violin (plural violins)

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.
2. (inexact, sometimes proscribed) Any instrument of the violin family, always inclusive of violins, violas, and cellos and sometimes further including the double bass.

3. (music, metonymically) The position of a violinist in an orchestra or group.

Usage notes

The distinction between violins and fiddles is typically contextual and cultural. The same instrument is considered a violin when playing classical music in formal settings, a fiddle when playing folk or country music, and variously described in other settings (such as jazz and rock) depending whichever term seems more appropriate to the speaker.

Synonyms

• fiddle (see above), crowd (obsolete or dialectical)

Derived terms

Related terms

• viol
• viola
• violoncello

Descendants

• → Japanese: バイオリン (baiorin)
• → Korean: 바이올린 (baiollin)

Translations

Verb

violin (third-person singular simple present violins, present participle violining, simple past and past participle violined)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To play on, or as if on, a violin.

See also

• bass viol
• cello
• double bass
• viola

Anagrams

• olivin

Catalan

Verb

violin

1. inflection of violar:
   1. third-person plural present subjunctive
   2. third-person plural imperative

Danish

Etymology

From Italian violino, diminutive form of viola with diminutive suffix -ino.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /violiːn/, [vioˈliːˀn]
• Rhymes: -in

Noun

violin c (singular definite violinen, plural indefinite violiner)

1. violin

Declension

References

• “violin” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “violin” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vjuˈliŋ/

Noun

violin m (plural violin)

1. violin