# fiddle

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈfɪd(ə)l/ · frequency rank #16,469

## Definitions
1. 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).
2. Any of various other bowed stringed instruments, particularly those of the violin family when played non-classically.
3. A violinist, or fiddler, in a band.
4. Something resembling a violin, or fiddle, in shape
5. Something resembling a violin, or fiddle, in shape
6. Something resembling a violin, or fiddle, in shape
7. A clown; an unserious person entertaining a group.
8. Unskillful or unartful behavior, particularly when showy and superficially pleasing.
9. Unskillful or unartful behavior, particularly when showy and superficially pleasing.
10. Unskillful or unartful behavior, particularly when showy and superficially pleasing.
11. Any rail or device that prevents items from sliding off a table, stove, etc. in rough water.
12. An arrest warrant.
13. A watchman's rattle.
14. A trifling amount.

## Etymology
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).

## Easily confused with
- **file** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fiddle-vs-file)
- **FIDE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fiddle-vs-fide)
- **Fidel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fiddle-vs-fidel)
- **finale** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fiddle-vs-finale)
- **fiddler** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fiddle-vs-fiddler)
- **fickle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fickle-vs-fiddle)

## Common misspellings (7)
`fdidle`, `ffiddle`, `fiddel`, `fiddlle`, `fidlde`, `fidle`, `ifddle`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/fiddle