6 March 2017
viol
[vahy-uh l]
noun
1. a bowed musical instrument, differing from the violin in having deeper ribs, sloping shoulders, a greater number of strings, usually six, and frets: common in the 16th and 17th centuries in various sizes from the treble viol to the bass viol.
Origin of viol
Middle French
1475-1485; Middle French viole (akin to Old French viel (l) e > earlier English viele) < Old Provençal viola, derivative of violar to play the viola1(perhaps imitative)
Can be confused
vial, vile, viol.
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for viol
Historical Examples
Significant then, that he worshipped “the viol, the viol et, and the vine” of Poe.
Adventures in the Arts
Marsden Hartley
In Greece and Albania, however, the viol would seem not to be used.
The Science of Fairy Tales
Edwin Sidney Hartland
Hither flock the jocund burgesses, and dance to the sound of harp and viol.
The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6
E. Rameur
The artist is seen in the foreground playing a viol : Titian a bass viol.
The Story of Paris
Thomas Okey
He ceased: the strains of lute and viol died away, and that silence followed which is sweeter than any music.
The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci
Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky
The second, instructions for the viol and also for the treble viol in.
The Violoncello and Its History
Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski
He had scarcely recovered this shock (for it was a great one to him) when he heard Abel on the viol da Gamba.
The Violin
George Hart
Others, looking at the ceiling, sigh to the viol some German ballade.
The Legend of Ulenspiegel, Vol. II (of 2)
Charles de Coster
She had a concert of “old music” with old instruments—spinet, viol a, viol d’amour, etc.
Letters of a Diplomat’s Wife
Mary King Waddington
Its tone (like that of all the viol class) was weak compared to the viol oncello.
Bach
Charles Francis Abdy Williams
British Dictionary definitions for viol
viol
noun
1. any of a family of stringed musical instruments that preceded the violin family, consisting of a fretted fingerboard, a body rather like that of a violin but having a flat back and six strings, played with a curved bow. They are held between the knees when played and have a quiet yet penetrating tone; they were much played, esp in consorts, in the 16th and 17th centuries
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
viol in the Bible Expand
Heb. nebel (Isa. 5:12, R.V., “lute;” 14:11), a musical instrument, usually rendered “psaltery” (q.v.)
Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary
Today’s quote
Any man whose errors take ten years to correct is quite a man.
– J. Robert Oppenheimer
On this day
6 March 1836 – death of Davy Crocket, American frontiersman, King of the Wild Frontier. Born 17 August 1786.
6 March 1899 – aspirin is patented in Germany by Friedrich Bayer and Co. It is the brand name for acetylsalicylic acid, which included an extract from the bark of the willow tree.
6 March 1984 – death of Martin Niemöller, German pastor. Niemöller originally supported Adolf Hitler, however, he soon realised he’d made a mistake. He blamed Hitler’s rise to power and the ensuing war and genocide, on the support and acceptance of his policies from churches and ordinary citizens, as well as the lack of speaking up against injustice. Niemöller is most well known for his statement, ‘First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me’. Born 14 January 1892.
6 March 2012 – A three-year old McNuggett shaped like George Washington is sold on eBay for $8,100 by a woman in Nebraska.