English
fiddle
Fiddle comes from Middle English fithele ‘a string instrument played with a bow’, from Old English *fiþele ‘fiddle or violin’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *fiþulǭ.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fiþulǭnext step skipped: Late Latin vitula
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fiþulāreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*fiþele‘fiddle or violin’reconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fithele‘a string instrument played with a bow’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1275fiddle
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fiþulǭnext step skipped: Late Latin vitula
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fiþulāreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*fiþele‘fiddle or violin’reconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fithele‘a string instrument played with a bow’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1275fiddle
Earliest quotation: c. 1275, Layamon, Brut: “...Of harpe & of salteriun. of fiðele & of…”
The story
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.). 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).
Every English word from Proto-Germanic *fiþulǭ
Today it means
noun 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).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *fiþulǭ / fiddle