Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Fiddler |
FiddlerNoun1. A musician who plays the violin. 2. Someone who manipulates in a nervous or unconscious manner. 3. An unskilled person who tries to fix or mend (usually in a clumsy way). Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "fiddler" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1200. (references) |
| Domain | Definitions |
19th Century Satire | A violinist before he becomes the virtuoso who refuses to play a real tune. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904. |
Literature | Fiddler Drunk as a fiddler. Fiddlers at wakes and fairs were allowed meat and drink to their heart's content, and seldom left a merry-making sober. Oliver's Fiddler. Sir Roger L'Estrange (1616-1704). So called because he, at one time, was playing a fiddle or viole with others in the house of John Hingston when Cromwell was one of the guests. Fiddler is a slang word for sixpence. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: FiddlerSynonyms: tinkerer (n), twiddler (n), violinist (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Drunkenness | Drunk as a lord, drunk as a skunk, drunk as a piper, drunk as a fiddler, drunk as Chloe, drunk as an owl, drunk as David's sow, drunk as a wheelbarrow. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Fiddler |
| English words defined with "fiddler": caller, caller-out, Crowder ♦ fiddler crab ♦ genus Uca ♦ Soft-shelled crabs, Soldier crab ♦ Uca ♦ Velvet crab. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "fiddler": BROTHER OF THE BLADE ♦ Catgut Scraper, Crowdero ♦ Fiddle About, Fiddler's Money ♦ GUT SCRAPER ♦ Now-now ♦ Old Noll's Fiddler ♦ Penny Hop ♦ SHEEPSKIN FIDDLER ♦ TORMENTER OF CATGUT, TORMENTOR of CATGUT ♦ Wandering Willie. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | It's time to pay the fiddler (Weird Science; writing credit: John Hughes) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Fiddler on the Roof (1971) The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar (1968) A Gypsy Fiddler (1933) Toby the Fiddler (1930) The Child and the Fiddler (1917) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books | |||
Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Fiddler crab on the beach.Credit: America's Coastlines. |  | North Inlet - Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Male fiddler crab, Uca pugilator, sporting its large protective claw as it attempts to hide under the glasswort, Salicornia sp.Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR). |
 | Chesapeake Bay Virginia National Estuarine Research Reserve. A denizen of the marsh - a fiddler crab. This is probably a red-jointed fiddler crab -Uca minax.Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR). |  | The Fiddler from the Pioneer Festival at the NHOTIC.Credit: BLM Staff. |
 | A Christmas street fiddler, Belgrade, Serbia.Credit: Library of Congress. |  | James Duff, fiddler, Hazard, Kentucky.Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Aunt Samantha Baumgarner, fiddler, banjoist, guitarist, North Carolina, Asheville.Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Fiddlin' Bill Henseley, mountain fiddler, Asheville, North Carolina.Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Fiddling Bill Hensley dancing (foreground), fiddler Asa Helton is seated in background at the Mountain Music Festival, Asheville, North Carolina.Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Cajun fiddler, Louisiana.Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Absalom and Achitophel | John Dryden | A man so various, that he seem'd to be Not one, but all mankind's epitome; Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong, Was everything by starts, and nothing long; But in the course of one revolving moon Was chymist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon. |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | He waved his hand at Willie, and Willie spoke to the fiddler. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Fiddler" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 94.44% of the time. "Fiddler" is used about 72 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 94.44% | 68 | 40,606 |
| Noun (proper) | 5.56% | 4 | 175,879 |
| Total | 100.00% | 72 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "fiddler" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Fiddler | Last name | 300 | 26,604 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "fiddler": as drunk as a fiddler ♦ drunk as a fiddler ♦ fiddler crab ♦ pay the fiddler ♦ velvet fiddler ♦ village fiddler. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "fiddler": fighter-fiddler, jumper-fiddler. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "fiddler"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | violinist (violinist), batakçi (blackguard, blackleg, con man, grafter, gyp, humbug, hustler, knave, leg, picaroon, rogue, scaramouch, sharper, slicker, trickster, twister, villain). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | عازف الكمان (violin, violinist), اللاهي, العابث (flirt). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | свирач (whistler), цигулар (fiddle, violinist), гъдулар, вид малък рак, безделник (black sheep, bum, cornerman, dangler, dead beat, deadbeat, do nothing, fribble, gadabout, good for nothing, hobo, lay about, loafer, loiterer, loon, lounger, spalpeen, spiv, tramp, twiddler, vagabond, wastrel), измамник (ambidextrous, bilk, bilker, cheat, counterfeit, deceiver, double-dealer, fake, fraud, gyp, impostor, intake, juggler, ringer, rook, sharp, sharpy, slicker, swindler). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | podvodník (cheat, con man, confidence trickster, conman, crook, deceiver, dodger, fake, fraud, impostor, juggler, phoney, phony, racketeer, rascal, runner, shark, sharper, swindler, trickster), podfukář (conman, dodger, spiv), houslista (violinist). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | wenkkrab (fiddler crab). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | viulunsoittaja (violin player). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | violoneux, joueur de violon, combinard. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | geiger (fiddlers, violin, violinist, violinists, violist). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | βιολιστής (violinist). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | כ ר (violinist), 'ן כ ור (violinist). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | muzsikus (musician), hegedűs (fiddle, leader, violin player). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | violinista (violinist). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | kialgeyr (cheat, con man, deceitful person, deceiver, double-dealer, fly boy, hypocrite, illusionist, plotter, schemer, swindler, trickster, twister), groudle (crowdie), fidleyr (fiddle, violinist), biol-chloieder (fiddle, violinist). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | iddlerfay violinista (violinist), rabujar. (various references) viorist, violonist (violinist), scripcar, lãutar (musician). (various references) скрипач (violinist, violist). (various references) fìdhlear. (various references) violinista (violinist). (various references) violinista (violin player, violinist). (various references) fiolspelare, fifflare (operator, spiv), kläpare. (various references) นักสีไวโอลิน, คนสีซอ. (various references) kemancı (violinist), dolandırıcı (adventurer, bilker, carpet bagger, cheat, cheater, chiseler, chiseller, confidence man, confidence trickster, crook, crooked, deceitful, double-dealer, faker, fakir, fraud, fraudulent, grifter, gyp, hustler, impostor, knave, lurcher, rogue, sham, shark, sharp, spieler, swindler, Twicer). (various references) скрипаль (fiddle, violin, violinist). (various references) muốn ăn hét phải đ o giun. (various references) ffidler, crythor (violinist). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | Uca. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "fiddler": fiddlers. (additional references) | |
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"Fiddler" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: didler, Faddle, feddel, feddle, fidale, fiddlier, fidle, fidrer. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "fiddler" (pronounced fi"duler or fi"dler) |
| 4 | -d u l er | Candler, Girdler, hurdler, Idler, kindler, needler, saddler, Sidler, Spindler, swindler. |
| 3 | -u l er | abler, alveolar, angular, annular, avuncular, bachelor, binocular, Buckler, cardiovascular, cellular, chancellor, circular, consular, councilor, counsellor, counselor, curricular, dangler, dissimilar, embezzler, enabler, equiangular, extracurricular, gastrovascular, glandular, globular, gobbler, granular, hackler, humbler, hustler, insular, intercellular, intermolecular, irregular, jeweler, jocular, juggler, jugular, kittler, Littler, modular, molecular, muscular, nestler, nodular, particular, peninsular, perpendicular, popular, rattler, rectangular, regular, reveler, secular, semicircular, settler, shuffler, similar, simpler, singular, spectacular, Stabler, stapler, stickler, subtler, testicular, tingler, Tinkler, titular, traveler, traveller, triangular, tubular, unicellular, unpopular, unspectacular, vascular, vehicular, vernacular, wrangler, wrestler. |
| 4 | -i" d l er | Riddler. |
| 3 | -d l er | Chandler, handler, landler, medlar, panhandler, peddler, toddler. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "d-d-e-f-i-l-r" | |
-1 letter: dirled, dreidl, fiddle, riddle, rifled. | |
-2 letters: dried, felid, field, filed, filer, fired, flied, flier, fried, idled, idler, lifer, redid, rifle, riled. | |
-3 letters: defi, deil, delf, deli, died, diel, dire, dirl, file, fire, fled, idle, ired, lied, lief, lier, life, lire, redd, reif, ride, riel, rife, rile. | |
-4 letters: del, did, die, eld, elf, fed, fer. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-d-e-f-i-l-r" | |
+1 letter: fiddlers. | |
+3 letters: midfielder. | |
+4 letters: federalized, fluoridated, interfolded, lifeguarded, midfielders. | |
+5 letters: childproofed, deformalized, desulfurized, disregardful, resolidified. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)46 69 64 64 6C 65 72 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)..-. .. -.. -.. .-.. . .-. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000110 01101001 01100100 01100100 01101100 01100101 01110010 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)F i d d l e r |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0046 0069 0064 0064 006C 0065 0072 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)40757070787184 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Names: Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Orthography 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
