violin English · revision 39974

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1579, Spenser|origins=pro viola}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˌvaɪ.əˈlɪn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|violino]], a diminutive of [[m|it|viola]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024)^(Hoad 1986)^(Dictionary.com 2016) the source of [[viola]];^(OED 2026)^(Cresswell 2021) Spanish and Portuguese have the same diminutive.^(OED 2026) Merriam-Webster takes the Italian noun from [[pro|viola|t=viol]], also [[m|pro|viula]],^(MWU 2024)^(MW Word Histories) which it derives probably from [[m|la-med|vitula|t=fiddle]].^(MW Word Histories) Ayto traces the word to [[la-vul|*vītula|t=stringed instrument]], named after Vītula, a Roman goddess of joy and victory.^(Ayto 2005) That Latin word is also the probable source of [[fiddle]], borrowed into Germanic much earlier,^(MW Word Histories)^(Ayto 2005) and, through [[m|fro|viole]], of [[viol]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(Ayto 2005) Johnson derived the English word from [[fr|violon]].^(Johnson 1755)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The bowed four-stringed instrument: the first record is in Spenser's ''The Shepheardes Calender'' (1579),^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026) and Merriam-Webster dates the word to about 1576.^(MWU 2024) Etymonline gives the 1570s and Dictionary.com 1570–80.^(Etymonline)^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The violin is the modern form of the smaller medieval ''viola da braccio'',^(Etymonline) and the Italian name means a little viola.^(Cresswell 2021) According to Merriam-Webster, bowed instruments are known from the 9th century, but the violin itself was developed only in the late 16th century;^(MW Word Histories) ''fiddle'' was used in English centuries earlier, and the two words now name the same instrument, their different forms reflecting the long passage of ''violin'' through two Romance languages.^(MW Word Histories) Johnson (1755) glossed it simply as "a fiddle".^(Johnson 1755) The word was used for a violinist from 1667, in Pepys's diary, and for an organ stop from 1688.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) ''To play first violin'', to take the leading part, is recorded from 1780.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) The verb, to play the violin, is recorded once in 1708 in the sense "to entice by playing" and again from 1895;^(OED 2026) Merriam-Webster dates it 1877.^(MWU 2024) In Australian prison and drug slang a ''violin'' is a hypodermic syringe.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1576 – the word, as Merriam-Webster dates it.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1579 – the instrument, in Spenser.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026)

+ * 1602 – with distinguishing words, as kinds of violin.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1667 – a violinist, in Pepys.^(OED 2026)

+ * about 1670 – ''violinist''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1688 – an organ stop.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1780 – ''to play first violin'', to take the leading part.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1895 – verb, to play the violin.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A bowed [[string|alt=stringed]] [[instrument]] with four strings tuned in fifths, held under the chin, the highest-pitched member of its family: ''He has played the violin since he was six.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # A [[violinist]], especially in an orchestra: ''the second violins''.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+ # An organ stop with a tone like that of a violin.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # (Australian slang) A hypodermic [[syringe]].^(GDoS)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To play the violin.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[violinist]]

+ * [[violinistic]]

+ * [[violinmaker]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[viol]]

+ * [[viola]]

+ * [[violoncello]]

+ * [[fiddle]]

+ * [[cello]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}