viol

[ vahy-uh l ]

/ ˈvaɪ əl /

noun

a bowed musical instrument, differing from the violin in having deeper ribs, sloping shoulders, a greater number of strings, usually six, and frets: common in the 16th and 17th centuries in various sizes from the treble viol to the bass viol.

Nearby words

Origin of viol

1475–85; < Middle French viole (akin to Old French viel(l)e > earlier English viele) < Old Provençal viola, derivative of violar to play the viola¹ (perhaps imitative)

Can be confusedvial vile viol

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for viol

This was Viol d'Amore, the brave nobleman who was a swordsman and who made beautiful verses and sang them.
The Blue Rose Fairy Book|Maurice Baring
The great catapults, still used by the Muscovites, twanged like the breaking of viol cords.
Joan of the Sword Hand|S(amuel) R(utherford) Crockett
Sometimes at twilight, or beneath the soft evening air of summer, we mingled in the dance, to the music of our flute and viol.
Olive Leaves|Lydia Howard Sigourney
His Viol has the effect of a Scotch Fiddle, for it irritates his hearers, and puts them to the itch.
The Violin|George Hart

Marryott went and examined the viol, and, returning to the window-seat, drew from it a few tremulous strains.
A Gentleman Player|Robert Neilson Stephens

British Dictionary definitions for viol

viol

/ (ˈvaɪəl) /

noun

any of a family of stringed musical instruments that preceded the violin family, consisting of a fretted fingerboard, a body rather like that of a violin but having a flat back and six strings, played with a curved bow. They are held between the knees when played and have a quiet yet penetrating tone; they were much played, esp in consorts, in the 16th and 17th centuries

Word Origin for viol

C15: from Old French viole, from Old Provençal viola; see viola 1

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

Word Origin and History for viol

viol

musical instrument, late 15c., viel, from Middle French viole, from Old French, from Old Provençal viola (see viola).