Word.ws English Dictionary

biwa

biwa noun: a plucked lute, originating in the classical and traditional music of Japan, characterized by a pear-shaped body and four or five high frets, giving the instrument a distinctively twangy tone.

Noun

biwa (plural biwas or biwa)

  1. A plucked lute, originating in the classical and traditional music of Japan, characterized by a pear-shaped body and four or five high frets, giving the instrument a distinctively twangy tone.

Proper noun capitalized: Biwa

Biwa

  1. A town in Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
  2. A lake in Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
    Synonyms:
    Lake Biwa

biwa meaning in Marathi and Malay

biwa in Marathi

lute
बिवा bivā

biwa in Malay

lute
biwa

Synonyms of biwa

Forms of biwa

pluralbiwas
pluralbiwa

Origin of biwa

Borrowing from Japanese 琵琶 (biwa). Doublet of bipa and pipa.

Words formed from biwa

Phrases with biwa

Questions about biwa

What does biwa mean?
Biwa means a plucked lute, originating in the classical and traditional music of Japan, characterized by a pear-shaped body and four or five high frets, giving the instrument a distinctively twangy tone.
What is biwa in Marathi?
Biwa in Marathi is बिवा (bivā). See Biwa meaning in Marathi.
What part of speech is biwa?
Biwa can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of biwa?
The plural of biwa is biwas.

Words near biwa in the dictionary

  1. bivy
  2. bivy bag
  3. bivy bags
  4. bivying
  5. BIW
  6. biwa
  7. Biwa trout
  8. Biwabik
  9. biwas
  10. biwavelet
  11. biwavelets

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: biwa (page history and authors); Biwa (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “biwa.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/biwa. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.