Definition of "violin" in English

noun

1. (music) A small unfretted stringed instrument with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) G-D-A-E, usually held against the chin and played with a bow.

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

2. (inexact, sometimes proscribed) Any instrument of the violin family, always inclusive of violins, violas and cellos, and sometimes further including the double bass.

   • The string quartet, one of the most popular groupings in chamber music, is composed entirely of violins: two violins proper, one viola, and one cello.

3. (music, metonymic) A violinist in an orchestra or group.

   • The violins are seated with sufficient elbow room.
   • She is first violin in the London Symphony Orchestra.

verb

1. (ambitransitive) To play on, or as if on, a violin.