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.

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Lincolnesque

without interest or significance; dull; insipid.

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very high or tall; lofty.

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Words nearby viol

vinylidene chloride, vinylidene group, vinylidene resin, vinylite, vinylstyrene, viol, viola, viola clef, viola d'amore, viola da braccio, viola da gamba

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)

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH viol

vial vile viol

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences 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