fiddle

== English == === Etymology === 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 fiðla, Danish fiddel, Norwegian fela, Swedish fela). The change from /ðl/ to /dl/ in modern English is regular; compare Bedlam, staddle, swaddle (in brothel, it was prevented; see that entry for discussion). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈfɪd(ə)l/ (General American) enPR: fĭdʹl, IPA(key): /ˈfɪdl̩/, [ˈfɪɾl̩] Hyphenation: fid‧dle Rhymes: -ɪdəl === Noun === fiddle (plural fiddles) 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). c. 1275, Layamon, Brut, Cotton Caligula A.IX, l. 3490: ...Of harpe & of salteriun. of fiðele & of coriun... (usually proscribed) Any of various other bowed stringed instruments, particularly those of the violin family when played non-classically. A violinist, or fiddler, in a band. Something resembling a violin, or fiddle, in shape, particularly: (biology) A dock (Rumex pulcher) with leaves supposed to resemble the musical instrument. A long pole pulled by a draft animal to drag loose straw, hay, etc. A rack for drying pottery after glazing. (figurative) A clown; an unserious person entertaining a group. (figurative) Unskillful or unartful behavior, particularly when showy and superficially pleasing. (informal) A scam; a fraud or swindle. 1947 June 22, People, p. 4: Says Bevin: 'I want peace... and we shan't get it unless we deal with one another as friends. I will be a party to no fiddles.' 1959 Sept. 4, The Spectator, p. 297: I know you'll think this is one of my fiddles. At my last parish we raffled a horse and trap,... a clothes horse and a mousetrap. (informal) A workaround; a quick and less than perfect solution for some flaw or problem. (informal) An act of tinkering, playing around, or fidgeting with something. (especially nautical) Any rail or device that prevents items from sliding off a table, stove, etc. in rough water. (UK slang, obsolete) An arrest warrant. (UK slang, obsolete) A watchman's rattle. (UK slang, obsolete) A trifling amount. ==== Usage notes ==== The distinction between violins and fiddles is typically contextual and cultural. The same instrument is considered a violin when playing classical music in formal settings, a fiddle when playing folk or country music, and variously described in other settings (such as jazz and rock) depending whichever term seems more appropriate to the speaker. Use of fiddle long predates the 16th century development of the modern violin but its use for other string instruments is almost obsolete; its use for other instruments of the violin family usually requires some explanatory adjective, such as bass fiddle. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== → Swahili: fidla ==== Translations ==== === Verb === fiddle (third-person singular simple present fiddles, present participle fiddling, simple past and past participle fiddled) (intransitive) To play the fiddle or violin, particularly in a folk or country style. (informal, transitive) To fraudulently manipulate (records, accounts, etc.) in order to cheat or swindle. (intransitive) To fidget or play; to fuss; to idly amuse oneself, to act aimlessly, idly, or frivolously, particularly out of nervousness or restlessness; see also fiddle with. (informal, intransitive) Synonym of tinker (“to make small adjustments or improvements”); see also fiddle with. Coordinate term: fettle (intransitive, UK, slang, obsolete) To do odd jobs for money. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Interjection === fiddle Synonym of fiddlesticks or euphemism for fuck. === References === Jordan, Richard (1974), Eugene Crook, transl., Handbook of the Middle English Grammar: Phonology (Janua Linguarum. Series Practica; 218)‎[2], The Hague: Mouton & Co. N.V., →DOI, § 206, page 187. “fiddle, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. “fiddle, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. “fiddle”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.