mandolin

American  

[man-dl-in, man-dl-in] / ˈmæn dl ɪn, ˌmæn dlˈɪn /

noun

1. a musical instrument with a pear-shaped wooden body and a fretted neck.

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mandolin British  

/ ˌmændəˈlɪn /

noun

1. 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

2. a vegetable slicer consisting of a flat stainless-steel frame with adjustable cutting blades

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Other Word Forms

• mandolinist noun

Etymology

Origin of mandolin

1700–10; < Italian mandolino, diminutive of mandola, variant of mandora, alteration of pandora bandore

Example Sentences

He's a massive Steelers fan, a music obsessive, and has played mandolin and guitar in bluegrass and country-rock bands in Brooklyn, Mexico City, Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

A former child prodigy on the mandolin, Hull opened the evening flexing her Berklee-trained chops in a series of lickety-split bluegrass numbers that got early arrivers whistling with approval.

From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2025

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

Perhaps he had sung when that other barber played the mandolin.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith