viol

1 9.9

A string instrument played with a bow, like an old violin from the 1500s and 1600s

noun
/vaɪəl/

Archaic

: viola

Serious music for strings belonged to the members of the older, more distinguished viol family instruments that use a bow on their strings.
viol strings

And you go in there, no lights, people beating each other in the dark to drums and viol and someone screaming in a microphone for help.

Examples

Serious music for strings belonged to the members of the older, more distinguished viol family instruments that use a bow on their strings, like the violins, but that have frets, like guitars.

Academic text (1994)
With the beautiful viol nestled between his thighs, he drew the bow across the strings.
Or the biggest viol there is?

Fiction book (2001)
I got viol...

Back to Black (2024)
Dr. Dick still possesses his double viol; it towers above him as he edges through the mute-mouthed crowd.

Fiction book (1999)
Before the mid-1800s, viols and cellos were held steady between the knees or calves.

Academic text (1993)
11: Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols; the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.

Blog text (26)
Composers began to write more and more secular music as well as religious music that specifically called for the church bass, the large cello, instead of the equivalent member of the viol family, the viol da gamba, until by the end of the century enough music existed to support a few full-time professional cellists.

Academic text (1994)
Well-made Cremonese instruments produced (and still generate) an excellent tone, bright and clear, and violins in general were far more flexible, capable of producing types of sound for dramatic effect different from the older, more cumbersome viols.

Academic text (1994)
Before the mid-1800s, viols and cellos were held steady between the knees or calves.

Compounds

bass viol

Archaic

9.4

A large old string instrument with a deep, rich sound like a big cello

Surface Forms

viol singular

viols plural

Etymology

Viol comes from the same family as violin and viola, names you already know for string instruments that are 'played with a bow', so think of a viol as an older cousin of those instruments used in earlier music.