hurdy-gurdy

[hur-dee-gur-dee, -gur-]

noun

plural

hurdy-gurdies 

1. a barrel organ or similar musical instrument played by turning a crank.

2. a lute- or guitar-shaped stringed musical instrument sounded by the revolution against the strings of a rosined wheel turned by a crank.

hurdy-gurdy

/ ˈhɜːdɪˈɡɜːdɪ /

noun

1. any mechanical musical instrument, such as a barrel organ

2. a medieval instrument shaped like a viol in which a rosined wheel rotated by a handle sounds the strings

Other Word Forms

• hurdy-gurdist noun
• hurdy-gurdyist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hurdy-gurdy¹

1740–50; variant of Scots hirdy-girdy uproar, influencedby hurly-burly

Word History and Origins

Origin of hurdy-gurdy¹

C18: rhyming compound, probably of imitative origin