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vi·o·la¹

(vē-ōlə)

1. A stringed instrument of the violin family, slightly larger than a violin, tuned a fifth lower, and having a deeper, more sonorous tone.

2. An organ stop usually of eight-foot or four-foot pitch yielding stringlike tones.

[Italian, from Old Italian, from Old Provençal, a kind of early viol, ultimately of imitative origin (probably back formation from violar, to play the viol, from *viu, sound imitative of a hurdy-gurdy or viol).]

vi·olist n.

vi·o·la²

(vī-ōlə, vē-, vīə-lə)

Any of various plants of the genus Viola, which includes the violets and pansies, especially certain ornamental varieties that are usually more compact than pansies and have smaller flowers without a blotch on the petals.

[Middle English, from Latin; akin to Greek ion (both Greek and Latin from a common unknown Mediterranean source ).]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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