Definition of viol

Email this page to a friend

< vinyl chloride

viola >

vi·ol    (vl) KEY 

NOUN:

1. Any of a family of stringed instruments, chiefly of the 16th and 17th centuries, having a fretted fingerboard, usually six strings, and a flat back and played with a curved bow.
2. See viola da gamba.

---

ETYMOLOGY:
Alteration of Middle English viel, from Old French viole, vielle, from Old Provençal viola ; see viola¹