Geige

Meaning

violin, fiddle

Concepts

violin

🎻

fiddle

fiddler

violinist

Synonyms

Violine

🎻

Fiedel

🎻

Fidel

Geige, Veilchen, Violine, Fiedel

Violinist

Geiger

Violinistin

Translations

violon

🎻

violín

🎻

violino

🎻

viool

🎻

violino

🎻

βιολί

keman

🎻

violí

🎻

keman

🎻

violon

viyolîn

🎻

kemançe

كمان

🎻

violin

Dialects

Basel-Landschaft

gyyge

Data provided by: Deutsch-Schweizerdeutsches Wörterbuch

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɡaɪ̯ɡə/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle High German: gīge

Inherited from Old High German: gīga

In summary

From Middle High German gīge, from Old High German gīga, of unclear origin. Possibly from a Proto-Germanic *gīganą (“to move, wish, desire”) (based on the movement of a violinist's arms), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeyǵʰ-, *ǵʰeygʰ-, an extension of *ǵʰeh₂- (“to yawn, gape, long for, desire”), though this is semantically dubious. Alternatively an independent onomatopoeic formation. Cognate with Middle English gyge (“to make a creaking sound”), Old French giguer (“to play the fiddle”), English gig, English jig.