Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A Chinese stringed instrument that is played with a bow and has two strings stretched from a small sound box along a long thin neck.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A type of Chinese fiddle having two strings.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Mandarin èrhú : èr, two (in reference to its two strings) (from Middle Chinese ri`, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-nis; akin to Tibetan gnyis and Burmese hnac) + , peoples of Central Asia (in reference to the instrument's Central Asian origin) (from Middle Chinese xɦuə̆).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Mandarin 二胡 (èrhú), from  ("two") +  ("fiddle; short for 胡琴, a family of Chinese vertical fiddles").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word erhu.

Examples

  • There was also an ancient-looking horn and an "erhu" -- a two-string instrument which produced the most heart-wrenching sounds, and the "yanqin", a string instrument so beautiful and powerful that I thought there were twenty different instruments playing at once!

    Mao's Last Dancer Li, Cunxin, 1961- 2003

  • The program includes classics such as "The Moon Reflected in Er-Quan River," a solo for the two-stringed fiddle called the erhu; a solo for the lute-like pipa from the opera "Butterfly Lovers," based on a famed Chinese fable; and the bamboo-flute song "New Song of the Herdsmen."

    Time Off 2008

  • (Soundbite of music) The erhu is a traditional instrument.

    The Sonorous Strings of the Erhu 2007

  • LANG LANG'S FATHER (through translator): This instrument, it's called an erhu, which is like a Chinese violin.

    CNN Transcript Jun 16, 2002 2002

  • Chew quickly recognized Tyler's talent and recruited him to join her Purple Silk music program, where students learn to sing Chinese songs and play traditional instruments such as a two-string violin called an erhu, a four-stringed lute known as a pipa and a bamboo flute called a dizi.

    SFGate: Top News Stories By TERENCE CHEA 2011

  • When I was 12, my dad bought me an erhu, which is a Chinese violin or fiddle with two strings.

    Forbes.com: News Jessie Chen 2011

  • Chew quickly recognized Tyler's talent and recruited him to join her Purple Silk music program, where students learn to sing Chinese songs and play traditional instruments such as a two-string violin called an erhu, a four-stringed lute known as a pipa and a bamboo flute called a dizi.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • Chew quickly recognized Tyler's talent and recruited him to join her Purple Silk music program, where students learn to sing Chinese songs and play traditional instruments such as a two-string violin called an erhu, a four-stringed lute known as a pipa and a bamboo flute called a dizi.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • Chew quickly recognized Tyler's talent and recruited him to join her Purple Silk music program, where students learn to sing Chinese songs and play traditional instruments such as a two-string violin called an erhu, a four-stringed lute known as a pipa and a bamboo flute called a dizi.

    StarTribune.com rss feed 2011

  • Chew quickly recognized Tyler's talent and recruited him to join her Purple Silk music program, where students learn to sing Chinese songs and play traditional instruments such as a two-string violin called an erhu, a four-stringed lute known as a pipa and a bamboo flute called a dizi.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • I got so into the swing of things that I even broke my music rule and threw away my erhu, a Chinese two-stringed instrument my brother had carted around Asia years ago as a gift for me but which I’d never unboxed.

    I was a hopeless hoarder – until I was forced to throw out 50 things I own Tim Jonze 2024

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Also called "nanhu" and sometimes known in the west as a Chinese violin. A two-stringed bowed musical instrument, used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras.

    March 20, 2008