violist

English

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

English viol

Proto-Indo-European *-id-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti

Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)

Proto-Hellenic *-tās

Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs)

Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor.

Latin -istader.

Old French -istebor.

Middle English -ist

English -ist

English violist

From viol + -ist.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvaɪ.əl.ɪst/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Noun

violist (plural violists)

1. A person who plays the viol.

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

English viola

Proto-Indo-European *-id-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti

Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)

Proto-Hellenic *-tās

Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs)

Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor.

Latin -istader.

Old French -istebor.

Middle English -ist

English -ist

English violist

From viola + -ist.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /viˈəʊ.lɪst/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /viˈoʊ.lɪst/

Noun

violist (plural violists)

1. A person who plays the viola.
   • 1997 August 9, Edward Rothstein, “A Comeback for the Viola. No Joking.”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 27 February 2021:

     But those who attack violists shouldn't throw resin. Once the ergonomic viola catches on what instrument will be immune?

   • 2009 January 20, Allan Kozinn, “Shafts of Sun in Winter From the Italian Baroque”, in The New York Times‎^[2], archived from the original on 26 November 2022:

     And the cello concerto was strikingly different on Sunday: at Weill, the ensemble included two violinists and one violist, cellist, bassist and lutenist, but on Sunday four more violinists, a second violist and a harpsichordist were added to give the ripieno sections of the fast movements a heftier punch than the smaller group delivered.

Derived terms

• bass violist
• division-violist
• lyra violist

Translations

person who plays the viola

• Afrikaans: altvioolspeler, altviolis
• Catalan: violista m or f, viola (ca) m or f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: altviolist (nl) m, altvioliste (nl) f
• French: altiste (fr) m or f
• German: Bratscher (de) m, Bratscherin (de) f, Bratschist (de) m, Bratschistin (de) f, Violaspieler m, Viola-Spieler m, Violaspielerin f, Viola-Spielerin f
• Irish: vióladóir m
• Italian: violista m or f
• Japanese: バイオリスト (ja) (baiorisuto)
• Korean: 비올리스트 (biolliseuteu)
• Polish: altowiolista (pl) m, altowiolistka (pl) f, alcista (pl) m, alcistka (pl) f, altysta (pl) m, altystka (pl) f, altowiolinista (pl) m, altowiolinistka (pl) f
• Portuguese: violista (pt) m or f
• Swedish: violast c, altviolinist c

Usage notes

• There is no term in widespread, modern use specific to players of either instrument. The viol can also be called the viola da gamba, and a player therefore can be called a gambist, but that word is not common. A player of a viola can also be called a violaist, but that is a dated term not in wide use.

Dutch

Etymology

From viool +‎ -ist.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌvi.oːˈlɪst/
• Rhymes: -ɪst

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: vi‧o‧list

Noun

violist m (plural violisten, diminutive violistje n, feminine violiste)

1. violinist