Ribibe

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small medieval bowed string instrument with a pear-shaped body, played with a bow and similar to the rebec
2. An early European fiddle with a pear-shaped wooden body and a few strings, played with a bow in medieval music
3. A short-necked medieval stringed instrument, held under the chin or on the knee and sounded with a bow

Etymology: The rebec was a small, pear-shaped bowed instrument with a few strings, and its name traces back to the Arabic "rabāb", the name of a family of stringed instruments. Medieval Latin took it as "rebecus", and Old French made it "rebec", which English adopted for the instrument. "Ribibe" is a medieval English spelling of the same instrument name, so the two words are really one word in different forms. Any sharper meaning it carried in later English is outside what this etymology can confirm.

Synonyms: rebec, rebeck