viola

[vee-oh-luh]

noun

a four-stringed musical instrument of the violin family, slightly larger than the violin; a tenor or alto violin.
a labial organ stop of eight-foot or four-foot pitch, giving tones of a penetrating stringlike quality.

Origin of viola

1715–25; < Italian viola < Old Provençal viola; see viol

Can be confusedviola voilà

viola

[vahy-oh-luh, vee-, vahy-uh-]

noun

any plant of the genus Viola, especially a cultivated variety.Compare pansy(def 1), violet(defs 1, 2).
a pansy, V. cornuta, cultivated as a garden plant.

Origin of viola

1400–50; late Middle English: violet < Latin: violet

Viola

[vahy-oh-luh, vee-, vahy-uh-]

noun

a female given name.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for viola

Contemporary Examples of viola

For a pair such as Viola and Perov, who have co-created work for decades, there is also precedent for retroactive co-authorship.
Why the Art World Ignores Wives
Jessica Dawson
March 17, 2014
Few know that I also learned the viola, but gave it up after a year.
How I Write: Jared Diamond
Noah Charney
November 20, 2013
No one thought I could play the viola—until Mr K came into my life.
No More Coddling!
Joanne Lipman
October 3, 2013
(Viola, Twelfth Night, 3.4.304–305) What these plays all need, in production, is that sensitivity to the sea.
The Old Man and the Sea
David Farr
April 9, 2013
The Iron Lady actress bested frontrunner Viola Davis, who seemed a shoo-in for her turn in The Help.
Meryl Streep, ‘The Artist,’ Billy Crystal: Best Moments From 2012 Oscars (VIDEO)
Shannon Donnelly
February 27, 2012

Historical Examples of viola

Not only the Duke, but both the heroines, Viola and Olivia, love music.
The Man Shakespeare
Frank Harris
Viola, the Garibaldino, with whom he has lived for some years, calls him the Incorruptible.
Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard
Joseph Conrad
But he promised to see old Viola and the other girl that very night.
Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard
Joseph Conrad
I've the power to nominate whom I like, and Viola it shall be.
Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard
Joseph Conrad
When Viola had left the room, Ascher appeared to grow calmer.
A Ghetto Violet
Leopold Kompert

British Dictionary definitions for viola

viola

noun

a bowed stringed instrument, the alto of the violin family; held beneath the chin when played. It is pitched and tuned an octave above the cello
any of various instruments of the viol family, such as the viola da gamba

Word Origin for viola

C18: from Italian viola, probably from Old Provençal viola, of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Latin vītulārī to rejoice

viola

noun

any temperate perennial herbaceous plant of the violaceous genus Viola, the flowers of which have showy irregular petals, white, yellow, blue, or mauve in colourSee also violet (def. 1), pansy (def. 1)

Word Origin for viola

C15: from Latin: violet

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 viola

tenor violin, 1797, from Italian viola, from Old Provençal viola, from Medieval Latin vitula "stringed instrument," perhaps from Vitula, Roman goddess of joy (see fiddle), or from related Latin verb vitulari "to exult, be joyful." Viola da gamba "bass viol" (1724) is from Italian, literally "a viola for the leg" (i.e. to hold between the legs).

Viola

fem. proper name, from Latin viola "the violet" (see violet).

viola in Culture

viola

[(vee-oh-luh)]

A musical instrument shaped like a violin but somewhat larger, lower pitched, and “darker” in tone. A viola player holds a viola like a violin, under the chin.