Rebec
ahd-5
noun.
A pear-shaped, two-stringed or three-stringed medieval instrument, played with a bow.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
noun.
A musical instrument, the earliest known form of the viol class.
noun.
An old woman: so called in contempt. Compare
ribibe
, 2.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
noun.
An instrument formerly used which somewhat resembled the violin, having three strings, and being played with a bow.
noun.
A contemptuous term applied to an old woman.
Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
noun.
An early three-
stringed instrument
, somewhat like a simple
violin
.
Word Usage
"For instance, a viola da gamba is sort of cello, and a rebec is a kind of violin."
variant
rebeck