Word.ws English Dictionary

viola

UK/ˈviː.ələ//vaɪˈoʊlə/

viola noun: any of several flowering plants, of the genus Viola, including the violets and pansies. Also the misconstruction of voila.

viola: any of several flowering plants, of the genus Viola, including the violets and pansies
Image: Juni from Kyoto, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

viola (plural violas)

  1. Any of several flowering plants, of the genus Viola, including the violets and pansies.

Noun (2)

UK/viˈəʊ.lə/US/viˈoʊ.lə/

viola (plural violas or (senses 1 and 2, uncommon) viole)

  1. A stringed instrument of the violin family, somewhat larger than a violin, played under the chin, and having a deeper tone.
    • But those who attack violists shouldn't throw resin. Once the ergonomic viola catches on what instrument will be immune?1997 August 9, Edward Rothstein, “A Comeback for the Viola. No Joking.”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 27 Feb 2021
    • Also in that series, without Mr. Masur's guiding hand, Ms. Phelps and Ms. Young will anchor performances of Bach's Sixth "Brandenburg" Concerto, in which violas carry the upper lines.1999 April 25, James E. Oestreich, “MUSIC; Violists Are the Twin Stars Of an Orchestral Galaxy”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 30 Dec 2023
  2. A person who plays the viola.
  3. An organ stop having a similar tone.
  4. A 10-string steel-string acoustic guitar, used in Brazilian folk music.
  5. A berimbau viola, the smallest member of the berimbau used in capoeira music.

Proper noun capitalized: Viola

IPA/vaɪˈəʊlə/

Viola

  1. A female given name from Latin.
    • Were you a woman as the rest goes even,
      I should my tears let fall upon your cheek,
      And say, ‘Thrice welcome, drowned Viola!’c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
  2. A comune in Cuneo province, Piedmont, Italy.
  3. A town in Fulton County, Arkansas.
  4. An unincorporated community in Shasta County, California.
  5. A town in Kent County, Delaware.
  6. An unincorporated community in Heard County, Georgia.
  7. An unincorporated community in Latah County, Idaho.
  8. A village in Greene Township, Mercer County, Illinois.
  9. An unincorporated community in Brown Township, Linn County, Iowa.
  10. A minor city and township in Sedgwick County, Kansas.
  11. An unincorporated community in Graves County, Kentucky.
  12. A township and unincorporated community therein, in Olmsted County, Minnesota.
Show 7 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. An unincorporated community in Barry County and Stone County, Missouri.
  2. A hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York.
  3. A town in Warren County, Tennessee.
  4. An unincorporated community in Marion County, West Virginia.
  5. An unincorporated community in Marshall County, West Virginia.
  6. A village in Richland County and Vernon County, Wisconsin.
  7. Other townships in Illinois and Iowa, listed under Viola Township.

Also used as

viola is also the misconstruction of voila.

viola meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

viola in Hindi

वायोला, विओला, वयोला

viola in Tamil

வயோலா

viola in Marathi

व्हायोला, विओला

viola in Urdu

وائولوا
More languagesFewer languages
viola in Bengali
ভায়োলা
viola in Telugu
వియోలా
viola in Malayalam
വയോല
viola in Kannada
ವಯೋಲಾ, ವಿಯೋಲಾ
viola in Punjabi
ਵਿਓਲਾ, ਵਾਇਓਲਾ, ਵਾਯੋਲਾ
viola in Gujarati
વાયોલા, વિઓલા, વીઓલા
viola in Odia
ଭାଯ଼ୋଲା, ଭିଓଲା
viola in Nepali
विओला, वयोला
viola in Tagalog
biyola
viola in Arabic
كَمَان أَوْسَط kamān ʔawsaṭ
viola in Malay
biola
viola in Indonesian
viola
viola in Persian
ویولا viyolâ, آلتو âlto
viola in Vietnamese
viola

Examples of viola in a sentence

  • The string quartet, one of the most popular groupings in chamber music, is composed entirely of violins: two violins proper, one viola, and one cello.
  • Once the ergonomic viola catches on what instrument will be immune?
  • The ruminative 'cello uttered two phrases of its own and then began a dialogue with the viola.

All 10 example sentences with viola

Forms of viola

pluralviolas
plural error-unknown-tag uncommonviole

Plural of viola: violas

Origin of viola

From Latin viola (“violet”).

From Italian viola, from Old Occitan viola (modern Occitan viula), from Medieval Latin vitula (“stringed instrument”), possibly from Frankish *fiþulā (“violin, fiddle”). Doublet of viol. Also possibly a doublet of fiddle.

Words formed from viola

Phrases with viola

Words that rhyme with viola

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about viola

What does viola mean?
Viola means any of several flowering plants, of the genus Viola, including the violets and pansies.
What is viola in Hindi?
Viola in Hindi is वायोला, विओला, वयोला. See Viola meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is viola?
Viola can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce viola?
Viola is pronounced /ˈviː.ələ/ (UK).
What is the plural of viola?
The plural of viola is violas.

Words near viola in the dictionary

  1. viognier
  2. viogniers
  3. viol
  4. viol block
  5. viol blocks
  6. viola
  7. viola bastarda
  8. viola bastardas
  9. viola clef
  10. viola clefs
  11. viola d'amore

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: viola (page history and authors); Viola (page history and authors); viola (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); viola (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); viola (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); viola (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); viola (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); viola (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); viola (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); viola (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); viola (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); viola (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); viola (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); viola (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-viola.ogg.

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