er·hu 
(ärh′)
(ärh′)n.
A Chinese stringed instrument that is played with a bow and has two strings stretched from a small sound box along a long thin neck. Also called Chinese violin.
[Mandarin èrhú : èr, two (in reference to its two strings) (from Middle Chinese ri`, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-nis; akin to Tibetan gnyis and Burmese hnac) + hú, peoples of Central Asia (in reference to the instrument's Central Asian origin) (from Middle Chinese xɦuə̆).]