Etymology

biwa

B3I1W4A1

Today it means: A plucked lute, originating in the classical and traditional music of Japan, characterized by a pear-shaped body and four or five high frets, giving the instrument a distinctively twangy tone. Full definition →

Japanese 琵琶
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The story

  1. Japanese · borrowed from琵琶
  2. English todaybiwa

Borrowing from Japanese 琵琶 (biwa). Doublet of bipa and pipa.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.