violinist

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian violinista,^[2][3][4][5] formed from violino (“violin”) and -ista (“-ist”).^[4][6] The OED also names Spanish violinista as a source and compares French violoniste.^[2] Klein instead treats it as a hybrid coined in English from violin and -ist.^[7] The Italian violino is a diminutive of viola.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A player of the violin: about 1670, in the Life of A. Wood.^[2][8] Etymonline and Dictionary.com date the word to the 1660s.^[3][5]

Timeline

• c. 1670 – a player of the violin.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the 1660s.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who plays the violin: The young violinist joined the orchestra last spring.^[9][4][2]

Related words

• violin
• viola
• viol
• violist

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins