mandolin
Americannoun
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mandolins
plural
noun
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a plucked stringed instrument related to the lute, having four pairs of strings tuned in ascending fifths stretched over a small light body with a fretted fingerboard. It is usually played with a plectrum, long notes being sustained by the tremolo
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a vegetable slicer consisting of a flat stainless-steel frame with adjustable cutting blades
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of mandolin
1700–10; < Italian mandolino, diminutive of mandola, variant of mandora, alteration of pandora bandore
Explanation
A mandolin is a bit like a small guitar — it's a musical instrument with a wooden body, strings, and a long neck. A musician plays a mandolin by plucking or strumming the strings. Its sound is higher than a guitar, and it's often played alongside lower-pitched instruments, such as banjos and guitars. The mandolin is popular around the world and in many different kinds of music; in the United States, it's played most often in country music. The word itself comes from the Italian mandolino, which is an altered form of the Latin pandura, or "three-stringed lute."
Vocabulary lists containing mandolin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The mostly instrumental “Panorama” swirls banjo, mandolin, strings and horns with droning electronics, landing on a kind of spaced-out Americana.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
He used to play songs for me on the mandolin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
He played the guitar and mandolin, and she played the violin.
From Slate ● Jan. 26, 2025
He started off on the guitar, then moved onto the mandolin, and is now trying to learn the fiddle, all "just for enjoyment".
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2025
Some time ago she made Bubber a little play mandolin out of a cigar box with rubber bands, and that put the idea into her head.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
“We had this weird guitar ensemble,” says Graham, “with lots of different guitars and mandolins, mandocellos, a zither, some keyboards — all old-fashioned stuff — bass, some percussion, a couple of cellos and a harmonica.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2023
Meloni said she had no intention of ditching current support for Ukraine, saying the cliched image of Italy being a lightweight nation of "spaghetti and mandolins" had to end.
From Reuters ● Aug. 25, 2022
Three years ago he took up repairing mandolins and guitars in his workshop.
From New York Times ● May 3, 2020
Catonsville, Md., is known as “Music City” for its collection of stores selling guitars, mandolins, woodwinds and other instruments.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 17, 2019
Four boys get up from the crowd, with mandolins and homemade drums in hand.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
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