Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Music A pear-shaped, two-stringed or three-stringed medieval instrument, played with a bow.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A musical instrument, the earliest known form of viol class. It had a pear-shaped body, which was solid above, terminating in a slender neck and a carved head, and hollow below, with sound-holes and a sound post. The number of strings was usually three, but was sometimes only one or two. They were tuned in fifths, and sounded by a bow. The tone was harsh and loud. The rebec is known to have been in use in Europe as early as the eighth century. Its origin is disputed, but is usually attributed to the Moors of Spain. It was the precursor of the true viol in all its forms, and continued in vulgar use long after the latter was artistically established.
- n. An old woman: so called in contempt. Compare ribibe, 2.
Wiktionary
- n. music An early three-stringed instrument, somewhat like a simple violin.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Mus.) An instrument formerly used which somewhat resembled the violin, having three strings, and being played with a bow.
- n. obsolete A contemptuous term applied to an old woman.
Etymologies
- From Middle French rebec, alteration of rubebe. (Wiktionary)
- French, from Old French, alteration (influenced by bec, beak, from its shape) of rebebe, from Old Provençal rebeb, from Arabic rabāb, from rabba, to be master, control; see rbb in Semitic roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“For instance, a viola da gamba is sort of cello, and a rebec is a kind of violin.”
“The oldest type of this instrument in use appears to have been the form known as the rebec, the Arab form, which came into Europe in the time of the crusades.”
A Popular History of the Art of Music From the Earliest Times Until the Present
“Arab form of it, known as the rebec, is represented on p. 113, Fig. 23.”
A Popular History of the Art of Music From the Earliest Times Until the Present
“Urania is represented by the armillary sphere, Euterpe by flutes, Thalia by the rebec, Melpomene by the hunting horn, Terpsichore by the cittern, Erato by the jingle ring, and Polyhymnia by the organ.”
Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro
“Partially obscured behind a cabinet door, the rebec and its bow represent the muse Thalia (comedy and pastoral poetry).”
Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro
“He marveled over the rebec that he set in the hands of some lady of the land, drank in the musical notes of her ballad, and in the twilight by the gothic arch above the hearth he told his love in a gloom so deep that he could not read his answer in her eyes.”
“The girls are playing appropriate instruments of the period, such as the viola da gamba, cittern, dulcimer, rebec, clarion, viola d'amore and virginal, but their brand of beauty is strictly 20th century.”
“She spoke loudly, and as if conjured by sorcery, a group of musicians emerged from the crowd, carrying instruments, took up positions in front of Catherine, bowed to her, and set to without delay, on the rebec, harp, and drum.”
“I must get him to try his hand on rebec or organetto, and see what he can do.”
“The flutes and panpipes were easily carried; rebec and mandora had their own padded bags for protection, though the bow of the rebec had to be packed with care.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘rebec’.
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Gene Wolfe
Please contribute your favorite words from any of Gene Wolfe’s books to this prize-winning list.
In case you come across words in this list which are too commonplace to fit in, please ...gallipot, roost, badelaire, oblesque, execration, dhole, amschaspand, arctother, chalcedony, penitence, asimi, autarch and 839 more...
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phrontistery-r
from phrontistery.info
rya, rutilant, ruthful, rutherford, ruth, rusticity, rusticate, Russophobia, Russophile, russet, russel, rushlight and 514 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Ends with C but not with "-ic"
bloc, roc, arc, orc, disc, sac, xebec, havoc, bivouac, sumac, maniac, insomniac and 418 more...
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Zing Went the Strings
lute, guitar, mandolin, violin, banjo, balalaika, sitar, pipa, autoharp, zither, kantele, guqin and 329 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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learning
A list of words whose meanings I am learning, either because a) I don't know the meaning b) I know the meaning, but could stand to better appreciate certain inflections or secondary meanings or c) ...
louche, educe, loam, cob, sclerotic, palliate, axial, syndicalist, ecumenical, sally, fatuous, parvenu and 1381 more...
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What David Foster Wallace circled in ...
ablative, ablaut, abulia, acephalous, ACTH, adit, adumbrate, agrapha, ailanthus, aleatory, alfresco, algolagnia and 474 more...
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What David Foster Wallace Circled in ...
http://www.slate.com/id/2250784/
ablative absolute, ablaut, abulia, acephalous, ACTH, adit, adumbrate, agrapha, aleatory, ailanthus, alfresco, algolagnia and 482 more...
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looked up
Words I've come across while reading and looked up in the dictionary.
deesis, pendentive, revetment, aedicule, stemma, patera, ephod, entrepot, corbel, exedra, volute, archivolt and 1406 more...
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the mysterious flame of queen loana
what happens when a book has been translated from the italian and cognates have been used for the latinate words.
nadar, settle, pylorus, extrasystole, filobus, cenotaph, cuirassier, dragoon, zouave, lalique, capon, colloquy and 40 more...
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string alongs (and shorts too)
string instruments and instrumentation
zither, guitar, bouzouki, rebec, violin, cithara, fiddle, fidicinal, twang, fret, gadulka, maqui and 54 more...
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ellis peters
clee, lungeous, precentor, chasseours, parfytours, privily, cotte, dortoir, centaury, cleavers, brazier, pricced and 42 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for rebec.
tumbel "...ancient instruments (the ramsinga, the oliphant, the Roman bugle, the lute, the rebec, the aeolian harp, Solomon's harp)..." p 108 Nov 24, 2007