hurdy-gurdy
hurdy-gurdy Lexical Profile
• noun
A stringed musical instrument that produces sound by a hand-cranked, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings, featuring a keyboard mechanism to alter the pitch and drone strings that provide a constant harmonic background.
"The traditional folk band's unique sound was largely defined by the distinctive, buzzing drone of the hurdy-gurdy."
A portable barrel organ or street piano played by turning a crank, historically used by wandering street musicians and buskers.
"In the nineteenth century, city street corners were often animated by the lively, mechanical tunes of a hurdy-gurdy."
Word Nuance & Usage
Although the term refers specifically to a medieval stringed instrument played via a cranked wheel, it was historically misapplied to mechanical barrel organs and street pianos due to the shared hand-crank mechanism.
Word Origin & Etymology
Mid 18th century; a rhyming compound of imitative origin, likely coined to mimic the continuous, droning, and grinding sound produced by the instrument's wheel.