Buzuki

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A long-necked plucked string instrument from Greece, with a pear-shaped body and typically twelve or more metal strings
2. A Greek stringed instrument with a long fretted neck and a rounded body, played with a plectrum in folk and popular music
3. A traditional Greek lute-like instrument with metal strings, commonly used to play rhythmic dance music in Greece

Etymology: The bouzouki's name carries a Turkish word meaning "out of order." In Turkish, "bozuk" describes something broken, faulty or rotten, and the instrument's name came into Greek as "μπουζούκι" (bouzoúki) from that root. The Turkish word is also the source of the Arabic "buzuq," a doublet of the same origin, which names the related long-necked lute of the Near East. Using "bozuk" as the name for a stringed instrument can seem odd, but the link is one of tuning and playing style. Its exact reason is not firmly established, so the connection is best understood as a loose one rather than a precise description of the instrument.