fiddle

fiddle noun (INSTRUMENT) [ C ] informal. a violin : to play the fiddle.

Also known as violin, the fiddle is a type of bowed stringed instrument that is known for taking the lead on melodies and providing rhythm by means of bowing styles. Early relatives of the fiddle were present in the Middle Eastern rebab family of bowed (and sometimes plucked) lutes that dates to the eighth century.

informal to contrive to do (something) by illicit means or deception: he fiddled his way into a position of trust. (tr) informal to falsify (accounts, etc); swindle.

Fiddles are typically associated with country and other genres of popular music while violins are usually associated with classical and other genres of art music.

A violin is sometimes informally called a fiddle, regardless of the kind of music being played with it. The words “violin” and “fiddle” come from the same Latin root, but “violin” came through the Romance languages and “fiddle” through the Germanic languages.

Fiddle-faddle is silly, insignificant nonsense. Fiddle-faddle doesn't amount to much. Fiddle-faddle usually refers to nonsense that is particularly insubstantial: trivial stuff that means little.

To give you the short answer, yes, they are playing the same instrument. There isn't a difference between a fiddle and a violin… at least not physically. The difference between a fiddle and a violin is simply in the style of music they are used to play.

The answer is a surprising “no.” A violin and a fiddle are the same four-stringed instrument, generally played with a bow, strummed, or plucked. They are identical in their physical appearance. What distinguishes a violin from a fiddle is the style of music that is played on the instrument; it's all in how you play it.

"Fiddle" is often used for musical styles that lean in the folk direction: styles like bluegrass, cajun, country and some types of traditional Celtic music. "Violin," on the other hand, is typically used for Western classical music and jazz.

Medieval fiddles varied in size and shape but characteristically had front or back tuning pegs set in a flat and round or heart-shaped peg disk with three to five strings tuned in fifths (as c–g–d′, etc.). The body was often waisted.

Western classical players sometimes use “fiddle” as an affectionate term for the violin, that intimate companion and workmate. But in the United States, most often “fiddle” means the violin as used in Irish-Scottish-French traditional music and all the descendant American styles: Appalachian, bluegrass, Cajun, etc.

A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music.