Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Mandolin |
MandolinNoun1. A stringed instrument related to the lute, usually played with a plectrum. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "mandolin" was first used: 1707. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Fine Arts | An instrument of somewhat the same type as the lute. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A mandolin is a stringed musical instrument. Mandolins have 8 strings, in 4 pairs. Each pair of strings is tuned in unison, and are a fifth apart from adjacent pairs, giving an identical tuning to a violin (G-D-A-E low-to-high). Unlike a violin, the neck of a mandolin is fretted and it is typically played with a plectrum.Like the guitar, the mandolin is a poorly sustaining instrument --- a note cannot be maintained for an arbitrary time as with a violin. Its higher pitch makes this problem more severe than with the guitar, and as a result use of tremolo (rapid picking on a single note) is commonplace.
Mandolins come in a few forms. The more traditional roundback has a vaulted back made of a number of strips of wood in a bowl formation, similar to a lute. The flatback mandolin derives from the cittern. The carved top instrument was introduced by the Gibson company. These use the best of violin making techniques and guitar making production.
Flat and round backed mandolinsTwo of the most common carved top flat-backed mandolins are the F-style, which has a scroll near the neck, and points on the sides; and the A-style, which is round or pear shaped and has no points. These styles can also have either f-shaped soundholes, like the violin family, or an oval sound hole under the strings. Naturally there is much variation among makers, and styles other than these exist as well, but these are the most common. The F-hole, F-style mandolins are considered the most typical and traditional for bluegrass, while A-style with oval hole is more for Irish music.
Larger versions of the mandolin are the mandola (a fifth below the mandolin, as the viola is below the violin), the octave mandolin (an octave below the mandolin), and the mandocello, which is tuned an octave plus a fifth below the mandolin (like a cello). All of these have 8 strings tuned in unison.
Mandolins have a long history and much early music was written for them. However they are now mainly heard in country, bluegrass and folk music.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Mandolin."
Crosswords: Mandolin |
| English words defined with "mandolin": mandola. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "mandolin": Mandore. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Mandolin" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Hungarian (mandolin, mandoline), Swedish (mandolin, mandoline), Turkish (balalaika, mandolin). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | Play Your Mandolin! Lady (1931) The Fable of the Two Mandolin Players and the Willing Performer (1914) Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Play | Caption |
 | Solo mandolin excerpt demonstrating various picking techniques. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Mandolin" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 94.74% of the time. "Mandolin" is used about 38 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) | 94.74% | 36 | 57,479 |
| Noun (proper) | 2.63% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Noun (common) | 2.63% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 38 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "mandolin": long mandolin ♦ metal mandolin. Additional references. | |
| 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. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
mandolin | 705 | mandolin chord chart | 17 |
cafe mandolin | 189 | mandolin strap | 16 |
mandolin tab | 155 | electric mandolin | 16 |
mandolin chord | 134 | johnson mandolin | 16 |
brother mandolin | 85 | kit mandolin | 15 |
mandolin tuning | 84 | jazz mandolin project | 15 |
mandolin tablature | 67 | mandolin sheet music | 15 |
captain corellis mandolin | 56 | flatiron mandolin | 14 |
gibson mandolin | 43 | fender mandolin | 14 |
play mandolin | 41 | bros mandolin | 14 |
mandolin music | 39 | mandolin part | 13 |
mandolin lesson | 35 | creek mandolin nickel tab | 12 |
kentucky mandolin | 29 | bron mandolin | 12 |
mandolin scale | 28 | mandolin monroe morgan | 12 |
mandolin tune | 28 | mandolin pickup | 12 |
mandolin slicer | 23 | free lesson mandolin | 11 |
mandolin case | 18 | learn to play mandolin | 11 |
banjo mandolin | 17 | washburn mandolin | 11 |
mandolin string | 17 | mandolin instruction | 11 |
bluegrass mandolin | 17 | mandolin picture | 11 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "mandolin"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | mandolinë (mandoline). (various references) | |
Arabic | مندولين آلة موسيقية. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | мандолина (mandoline). (various references) | |
Chinese | 洋琵琶 . (various references) | |
Danish | mandolin (mandoline). (various references) | |
Dutch | mandoline (mandoline). (various references) | |
Finnish | mandoliini. (various references) | |
French | mandoline (mandoline). (various references) | |
German | Mandoline (mandoline). (various references) | |
Greek | μαντολίνο (mandoline). (various references) | |
Hungarian | mandolin (mandoline). (various references) | |
Indonesian | kecapi (lute). (various references) | |
Italian | mandolino (mandoline). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | マントル対流論 (a mannerism, mandarin, mandrake, Manhattan, manna, mannan, mannerism, mantle convection theory). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | マンドリン (mandarin). (various references) | |
Manx | mandalyn. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | andolinmay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | mandolina (mandoline), mandolim (mandoline), bandolim (mandoline). (various references) | |
Romanian | mandolinã. (various references) | |
Russian | мандолина (mandoline). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | mandolina (mandoline). (various references) | |
Spanish | mandolina (mandoline). (various references) | |
Swedish | mandolin (mandoline). (various references) | |
Turkish | mandolin (balalaika). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | мандоліна (mandoline). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Late Latin | 300-700 | pandura. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "mandolin": mandoline, mandolines, mandolinist, mandolinists, mandolins. (additional references) | |
| |
"Mandolin" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Bandoline, Karndoli, Madbouli, Mandali, Mandalong, mandlin, mandola, Mandolina, mandoline, mandolino, Mandolone, Manoji, Manoli, Manolic, Mansolu, Mantalini, manzonian, mendelien, Mindolluin, Mindolo, mondolin, Montmollin, Montolif, pandoli, Sadolin. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "mandolin" (pronounced ma"nduli'n) |
| 4 | -u l i' n | myelin. |
| 3 | -l i' n | Caplin, Carlin, Catlin, Codlin, Colin, Franklin, Goblin, maudlin, Merlin, Paulin, poplin. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-d-i-l-m-n-n-o" | |
-1 letter: nominal. | |
-2 letters: almond, amidol, amnion, daimon, dolman, domain, inland, ladino, nomina, oilman. | |
-3 letters: aloin, amido, amino, amnio, anion, danio, dolma, domal, donna, indol, liman, modal, monad, nidal, nodal, nomad. | |
-4 letters: amid, amin, anil, anon, damn, dial, diol, dona, idol, laid, lain, land, lido, lima, limn, limo, linn, lino, lion, load, loam, loan, loin, maid. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-d-i-l-m-n-n-o" | |
+1 letter: denominal, mandoline, mandolins. | |
+2 letters: calamondin, dominantly, mandolines, nonmedical. | |
+3 letters: calamondins, condimental, dimensional, mandolinist, manifolding. | |
+4 letters: commandingly, delamination, mandolinists, manifoldness, oleandomycin. | |
+5 letters: admonishingly, bildungsroman, delaminations, demyelination, dimensionally, malfunctioned, nondiplomatic, nonmyelinated, oleandomycins, predominantly. | |
| 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. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Sounds 7. Usage Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
