violin

[ vahy-uh-lin ]

/ ˌvaɪ əˈlɪn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR violin ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the treble instrument of the family of modern bowed instruments, held nearly horizontal by the player's arm with the lower part supported against the collarbone or shoulder.

a violinist or part for a violin.

Nearby words

violescent, violet, violet family, violet iris, violet wood, violin, violin clef, violin spider, violinist, violinmaker, violist

Origin of violin

1570–80; < Italian violino, equivalent to viol(a) (see viola¹) + -ino diminutive suffix

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

Examples from the Web for violin

The Democrats will emphasize the violin stories, and they will exist, too.
Why Obamacare Could Help the Democrats in 2014|Michael Tomasky|December 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Holmes did play the violin, but also smoked a pipe, boxed, injected cocaine, and lost himself in his chemistry lab.
The Foodie Detective: The Pepe Carvalho Novels by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán|Malcolm Forbes|October 3, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Wally Pratt was a skinny, kind of dorky kid who wore bowties and played the violin.
The Memorial Day Diaries|The Daily Beast|May 29, 2011|DAILY BEAST
She placed the violin on the floor and the candle on the table.
Rose O'Paradise|Grace Miller White

The violin players were gathered together, and to Robello fell the lot of playing first.
The Green Forest Fairy Book|Loretta Ellen Brady
The violin went on, the small figures, as he watched them, moved in the slow measures of the dance.
The Red City|S. Weir Mitchell
And through the rushing he hears more and more clearly the voice of the advocate, speaking sweetly as a violin.
Stories and Pictures|Isaac Loeb Peretz
The buzzard was outside the door making music on his violin.
Fairy Tales from Brazil|Elsie Spicer Eells

British Dictionary definitions for violin

violin

/ (ˌvaɪəˈlɪn) /

noun

a bowed stringed instrument, the highest member of the violin family, consisting of a fingerboard, a hollow wooden body with waisted sides, and a sounding board connected to the back by means of a soundpost that also supports the bridge. It has two f-shaped sound holes cut in the belly. The instrument, noted for its fine and flexible tone, is the most important of the stringed instruments. It is held under the chin when played. Range: roughly three and a half octaves upwards from G below middle C

Word Origin for violin

C16: from Italian violino a little viola, from 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

Culture definitions for violin

violin

The most familiar and highest-pitched instrument of the strings. A typical symphony orchestra has more than two dozen violinists.