fiddle

CEFRB2

/ˈfɪd(ə)l/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To move or adjust something without a clear purpose.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    A violinist, or fiddler, in a band.

Examples

  • Nero did not actually fiddle while Rome burned.

  • You're certainly looking fit as a fiddle today.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • [ˈfɪɾl̩]
  • /ˈfɪdl̩/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meaning

  1. Any of various other bowed stringed instruments, particularly those of the violin family when played non-classically.

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A violin, a small unfretted stringed instrument with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) G-D-A-E, usually held against the chin, shoulder, chest or on the upper thigh and played with a bow (see also usage notes below).

  2. Something resembling a violin, or fiddle, in shape

More examples

In context

  • ...Of harpe & of salteriun. of fiðele & of coriun...

  • He is first fiddle in the band.

  • When I play it like this, it's a fiddle; when I play it like that, it's a violin.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

During the boring lecture, he couldn't help but blank with his pen, clicking it repeatedly.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English fithele, from Old English *fiþele, from Proto-West Germanic *fiþulā, from Proto-Germanic *fiþulǭ (“fiddle”), of uncertain etymology. Some contest that the Germanic terms are borrowed variations of Late Latin vitula (see viola); others contest that the word has a separate origin within Germanic languages, and still others believe that the Late Latin term for the stringed instrument is a borrowing from Germanic as a change of Latin t to Germanic þ is highly improbable, yet Germanic þ to Latin t is well documented (see troop, trousers, Teobaldo, etc.). Cognate with Old High German fidula (German Fiedel), Middle Dutch vedele (Dutch vedel, veel), Old Norse fiðla (Icelandic fi...