Etymology and origin of the English word viola
viola1 violet, pansy
From the same root · viola1
Pronunciation
Etymology
The plant is inherited from Middle English viola,[2] borrowed from Latin viola (“violet”),[3][4][5][6] which was later used as the botanical name of the genus.[4][7] The Latin word, also the source of violet through Old French violete,[8][6][9] is akin to Ancient Greek ἴον (íon, “violet”); the American Heritage Dictionary takes both from an unknown Mediterranean source,[6] and Etymonline and Klein likewise think the Latin word probably came from a Mediterranean language.[8][9]
Earliest recorded meaning
The violet: in a Middle English translation of Chauliac's surgery, perhaps before 1425,[2] and in a poem by Lydgate of about 1430.[3] Lydgate also used it as a name for the Virgin Mary.[2]
Semantic evolution
The early sense "violet" was rare and had died out by about 1500.[3][4] The word returned in the 18th century as the Latin name of the genus that includes the violets and the pansies, first recorded in Miller's gardening dictionary of 1731,[3] and since 1871 it has also named hybrid garden plants of the genus, with smaller and more evenly coloured flowers than the pansy.[3]
Timeline
- c. 1425 – the violet.[2]
- c. 1430 – the violet, in Lydgate (obsolete after about 1500).[3]
- 1731 – the genus of violets and pansies.[3]
- 1868 – in names of chemical substances from violets or pansies.[3]
- 1871 – a hybrid garden viola.[3]
Meanings
Noun
viola2 musical instrument
- Confidence
- Probable
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- 1724 Short Explication of Foreign Words in Musick Books
- Borrowed from
- Italian viola
- Ultimate origin
- Old Occitan viola
Pronunciation
Etymology
The instrument is borrowed from Italian viola,[10][8][6][3] together with Spanish viola according to the OED, the Shorter Oxford and Merriam-Webster.[3][4][7][11] The word comes, probably, from Old Occitan viola,[4][5][12][10][8] which Barnhart and Etymonline trace to Medieval Latin vitula (“stringed instrument”),[10][8] the source also of viol.[8] Etymonline connects the Medieval Latin word with Vitula, a Roman goddess of joy, or with vitulor (“to exult, celebrate”),[8] and Collins also thinks the Provençal word perhaps related to that verb.[12] The American Heritage Dictionary instead takes it as ultimately imitative, probably a back-formation from violar (“to play the viol”), from an imitative *viu.[6] Barnhart compares fiddle.[10]
Earliest recorded meaning
The viola da gamba, the bass viol: 1724, in a Short Explication of Foreign Words in Musick Books.[3][8] Merriam-Webster dates the word to about 1724,[7] and Dictionary.com to 1715–25.[13]
Semantic evolution
The first English uses were the Italian names of older viols, viola da gamba, literally "viola for the leg", held between the legs, and viola d'amore (both 1724).[3][8][12] The modern alto or tenor member of the violin family is recorded from 1786, in Busby's Complete Dictionary of Music,[3] while Barnhart and Etymonline date it from 1797, in letters of Southey.[10][8] The word was used of an organ stop from 1876 and of a viola player from 1894.[3] Collins notes viola da braccio, "viol for the arm", as an old name for the modern instrument.[12]
Timeline
- 1724 – viola da gamba and viola d'amore.[3][8]
- 1786 – the alto or tenor violin.[3]
- 1797 – the alto violin, in letters of Southey.[10][8]
- 1876 – an organ stop.[3]
- 1894 – a viola player.[3]
Meanings
Noun
- A bowed stringed instrument of the violin family, a little larger than the violin and tuned a fifth lower; the alto or tenor violin.[7][12][3]
- A player of this instrument.[3][4]
- Any of various bowed instruments of the 16th and 17th centuries, such as the viola da gamba.[7][12]
- An organ stop with a string-like tone.[3]
Word family
- violist
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
- ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
Related etymologies
- pedal · also from Italian
- isolate · also from Italian
- graffiti · also from Italian
- manifesto · also from Italian
- compartment · also from Italian
- fascism · also from Italian
- managerial · also from Italian
- quartet · also from Italian
Cite this entry
“Viola.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/viola. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.
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