mandolin

UK: /ˌmændəˈlɪn/

US: /ˈmændəlɪn, ˌmændəˈlɪn/

US: (man′dl in, man′dl in′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

man•do•lin /ˈmændəlɪn, ˌmændəˈlɪn/   n. [countable]

1. Music and Dance an eight-stringed musical instrument with a pear-shaped wooden body and a neck with frets.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

man•do•lin  (man′dl in, man′dl in′), n. 

1. Music and Dance a musical instrument with a pear-shaped wooden body and a fretted neck.

• Italian mandolino, diminutive of mandola, variant of mandora, alteration of pandora bandore
• 1700–10

man′do•lin′ist, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

mandolin, mandoline / ˌmændəˈlɪn/ noun

1. a plucked stringed instrument related to the lute, having four pairs of strings tuned in ascending fifths stretched over a small light body with a fretted fingerboard. It is usually played with a plectrum, long notes being sustained by the tremolo

Etymology: 18th Century: via French from Italian mandolino, diminutive of mandora lute, ultimately from Greek pandoura musical instrument with three strings

ˌmandoˈlinist noun