fiddler

Meaning

1. One who plays the fiddle.
2. One who fiddles; a cheat.
3. One who fiddles or tweaks.
4. A burrowing crab of the genus Gelasimus, of many species. The male has one claw very much enlarged, and often holds it in a position similar to that in which a musician holds a fiddle.
5. The common European sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos); so called because it habitually wags its tail up and down resembling the back and forth movement of a fiddler.
6. A large species of cicada, Macrotristria angularis, of eastern Australia; cherry nose.
7. (UK, obsolete, slang) A coin of little value: a sixpence or a farthing.
8. (slang) The capstan-house on a steamer.

Synonyms

violinist

tinkerer

twiddler

fiddle

guitarist

jack

jacks

musician

palooka

rogue

sad sack

scraper

slouch

threadfin

virtuoso

washout

john

bonefish

threadfish

Cuban jack

Indian threadfin trevally

bonyfish

ciliated thread-fish

cobblerfish

cordonnier

ladyfish

African pompano

hairfish

pennant fish

thread-finned trevally

long cudja

long john

mariggle

pennant trevally

pennantfish

riverfish

thread pompano

thread-fin jackfish

threadfin mirrorfish

threadfin pompano

threadfin trevally

blunderer

threadfinned trevally

crook

duffer

Translations

violoniste

Geiger

violinista

violinista

Violinist

violist

Geigerin

speelman

violinista

combinard

Geigenspieler

βιολιστής

Violinistin

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈfɪdələ(ɹ)/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: fithelere

Inherited from Old English: fiþelere

In summary

From Middle English fithelere, from Old English fiþelere, from *fiþele. By surface analysis, fiddl(e) + -er.
* (capstan-house): So called because the fiddle would sometimes be played to cheer the sailors working there.