Etymology

fiddle

fid·dle
F4I1D2D2L1E1

Today it means: A violin, a small unfretted stringed instrument with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) G-D-A-E, usually held against the chin, shoulder, chest or on the upper thigh and played with a bow (see also usage notes below). Full definition →

Middle English fithele ← Old English *fiþele ← Proto-West Germanic *fiþulā
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*fiþulǭ“fiddle”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*fiþulā
  3. Old English · inherited from*fiþele
  4. Middle English · inherited fromfithele
  5. English todayfiddle

From Middle English fithele, from Old English *fiþele, from Proto-West Germanic *fiþulā, from Proto-Germanic *fiþulǭ (“fiddle”), of uncertain etymology. Some contest that the Germanic terms are borrowed variations of Late Latin vitula (see viola); others contest that the word has a separate origin within Germanic languages, and still others believe that the Late Latin term for the stringed instrument is a borrowing from Germanic as a change of Latin t to Germanic þ is highly improbable, yet Germanic þ to Latin t is well documented (see troop, trousers, Teobaldo, etc.). Cognate with Old High German fidula (German Fiedel), Middle Dutch vedele (Dutch vedel, veel), Old Norse fiðla (Icelandic fiðla, Danish fiddel, Norwegian fela, Swedish fela). The change from /ðl/ to /dl/ in modern English is regular; compare Bedlam, staddle, swaddle (in brothel, it was prevented; see that entry for discussion).

Words from the same roots

Old English*fiþele all →

feddle

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.