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mandolin

(man′də lin′, man′də lin)

noun

a musical instrument of the lute family, with four to six pairs of strings stretched over a fretted neck and a deep, rounded sound box: it is played with a plectrum, which is moved rapidly back and forth to give a tremolo effect

Origin: Fr mandoline < It mandolino, dim. of mandola, mandora < LL pandura, kind of lute < LGr pandoura, prob. < Ar ṭanbur

Related Forms:

mandolinist noun

See mandolin in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

A small lutelike instrument with a typically pear-shaped body and a straight fretted neck, having usually four sets of paired strings tuned in unison or octaves.

Origin:

Origin: French mandoline

Origin: , from Italian mandolino

Origin: , diminutive of mandola, lute

Origin: , from French mandore

Origin: , from Late Latin pandūra, three-string lute

Origin: , from Greek pandoura

Related Forms: