rebec

or re·beck

[ ree-bek ]

/ ˈri bɛk /

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noun

a Renaissance fiddle with a pear-shaped body tapering into a neck that ends in a sickle-shaped or scroll-shaped pegbox.

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THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of rebec

1745–55; <Middle French; replacing Middle English ribibe<Old French rebebe ≪ Arabic rabābrebab

Words nearby rebec

rebated, rebatement, rebato, rebbe, rebbetzin, rebec, Rebecca, Rebekah, rebel, rebeldom, rebellion

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use rebec in a sentence

This rebab is an exact counterpart of the rebec formerly popular in Western Europe.
Musical Myths and Facts, Volume I (of 2)|Carl Engel
And it was so ready with refrains and lays and songs and new tunes, that harp, or viol, or rebec were as nought beside it.
Tales from the Old French|Various
It was Rizzio's skill upon the rebec that had first attracted Mary's attention.
The Historical Nights' Entertainment|Rafael Sabatini
Bonnivet, during his investment of Milan, had posted Bayard with a small corps in the village of Rebec.
A Popular History of France From The Earliest Times|Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot

The rebec was not known in Arabia until nearly two centuries after we find the crwth mentioned by Venance Fortunatus.
A Popular History of the Art of Music|W. S. B. Mathews

British Dictionary definitions for rebec

rebec

rebeck

/ (ˈriːbɛk) /

noun

a medieval stringed instrument resembling the violin but having a lute-shaped body

Word Origin for rebec

C16: from Old French rebebe, from Arabic rebāb; perhaps also influenced by Old French bec beak

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012