Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of a family of stringed instruments, chiefly of the 1500s and 1600s, having a fretted fingerboard, usually six strings, and a flat back and played with a curved bow.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A musical instrument with strings, essentially not greatly different from the lute and the guitar, except that the strings are sounded by means of a bow drawn across them, not by plucking them with the fingers.
- noun A large rope formerly used in purchasing an anchor: same as
messenger - noun An obsolete form of
vial .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Mus.) A stringed musical instrument formerly in use, of the same form as the violin, but larger, and having six strings, to be struck with a bow, and the neck furnished with frets for stopping the strings.
- noun (Naut.) A large rope sometimes used in weighing anchor.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
viola da gamba , a family of musical instruments that preceded theviolin andviola and similarstring instruments
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of a family of bowed stringed instruments that preceded the violin family
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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The tastefulness of his treble viol playing and the more resonant, lower lyra viol is fetching, and his rhythmic liveliness is always in evidence, but 28 dances are slightly too much of a very good thing.
Jordi Savall: The Celtic Viol II – review Nicholas Kenyon 2010
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The ensembles and the label are each the responsibility of Mr. Savall, a trained cellist, who has turned a youthful curiosity about the viola da gamba — an antique stringed instrument combining aspects of the cello and guitar, alternatively known as the viol — into a pan-musical enterprise.
Blurring Traditional Boundaries J. S. Marcus 2010
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In my opinion, the haunting, ethereal, and rather 'open' sound of the viol is the perfect medium to convey the true character of Bach's final masterpiece.
WeLove-music 2010
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Anyway, on that song he played something called a viol, which has a mandolin-type sound.
LAist Michele Reverte 2010
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The Hebrew word nebhel, so rendered, is translated "viol" in Isa.
Easton's Bible Dictionary M.G. Easton 1897
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To the first class belong the harp, the psaltery (also rendered "viol", "dulcimer", etc.), the sackbut (Lat.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 2: Assizes-Browne 1840-1916 1913
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Marais's "Musette" rocked back and forth over two repeated chords, with the drone of the viol's low strings evoking the eponymous medieval bagpipe.
PERFORMING ARTS 2011
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With over 150 concert dates and five or six record releases a year, Mr. Savall actively combines a solo career as a viol player with that of conductor and early music theoretician.
Blurring Traditional Boundaries J. S. Marcus 2010
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"It's a very special instrument," Mr. Savall says of the viol.
Blurring Traditional Boundaries J. S. Marcus 2010
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Although both musicians played with virtuosic speed and accuracy, Marais's "Plainte" was the highlight of this one-hour recital, a whispering thread of melody from the viol accompanied by gentle arpeggiated chords on the theorbo, making the lament an intense, personal cry of anguish.
PERFORMING ARTS 2011
chained_bear commented on the word viol
"And, for the general good of all mankind, he gave up playing the viol through being too busy with his duties, and we must all thank those who gave him a bishopric for visiting this kindness on God's creation."
—Iain Pears, An Instance of the Fingerpost (New York: Riverhead Books, 1998), 682
October 16, 2008