fiddlern.
/ˈfɪdlə/, /ˈfɪdl̩ə/, U.S. /ˈfɪd(ə)lər/ One who fiddles.
1.
a. One who plays on the fiddle; esp. one who does so for hire. fiddler's fare, fiddler's money, fiddler's pay, fiddler's wages: see quots. 1597, 1608, 1608, 1608.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > instrumentalist > string player > [noun] > fiddler
fiddlera1100
gigoura1300
minikin tickler1607
scraper1611
gut-vexer1640
rosin-the-bow1767
fiddle1773
scrape-gut1837
bosh-man1846
bosh-faker1859
bosh-killer1935
a1100 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 311 Fidicen, fiðelere.
c1330 Arth. & Merl. 6568 Ther were trumpes and fithelers.
1463 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 230 Govyn to a fedelere, the sayd day at nyte, iiij. d.
1532 T. More Confut. Barnes in Wks. (1557) 735/1 He..fareth as he wer from a frere waxen a fideler.
1597 1st Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus i. i. 380 He..gave me fidler's wages, and dismiste mee.
1608 G. Markham & L. Machin Dumbe Knight iii. sig. F4v Let the world know you haue had more then fidlers fare, for you haue meat, money and cloth.
1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 16 The gammuth of every municipal fidler.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Fidlers-pay, Thanks and Wine.
1721 Visct. Bolingbroke in Swift's Lett. (1766) II. 20 As fiddlers flourish carelessly, before they play a fine air.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Fidler's money, all six~pences.
1807 Salmagundi 31 Dec. 387 The fiddler puts the whole assembly in motion.
1886 H. Caine Son of Hagar ii. xvi The fiddler's function was at an end for the present.
b. Fiddler's Green (Nautical): ‘a sailor's elysium, in which wine, women, and song figure prominently’ (Farmer).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > faculty of conceiving ideals > ideal place > [noun]
heaveneOE
land of behesta1200
Cockaigne?c1335
Fortunate Islands?a1475
eutopia1553
utopia1601
horny gate (also port)1605
nonsucha1618
Americaa1631
El Dorado1788
other world1804
Cockneyland1817
cloud-cuckoo-land1824
Fiddler's Green1825
dreamland1832
Neverland1892
never-never land1900
Big Rock Candy Mountain1917
brave new world1933
Xanadu1948
Disneyland1956
ecotopia1975
the world > the supernatural > deity > heaven > [noun] > paradise > Elysium or Elysian field(s) > of sailors
Fiddler's Green1825
1825 Sporting Mag. 16 404 My grannan..used to tell me that animals, when they departed this life, were destined to be fixed in Fidler's Green.
1836 W. H. Maxwell Capt. Blake I. xv. (note) It is..believed that tailors and musicians after death are cantoned in a place called ‘Fiddler's Green’.
1837 F. Marryat Snarleyyow (ed. 2) I. ix. 98 We shape a course for Fidler's Green.
1883 J. D. J. Kelly in Harper's Mag. Aug. 441/2 The pilotless narrows which lead to Fiddler's Green, where all good sailors go.
2. † a. A trifler. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > foolish person, fool > [noun] > giddy, light-headed
light head1536
cock-brain1556
fiddler1591
wild goose1597
barmy-froth1598
knick-knacker1622
nugator1656
shatter-pate1775
feather-brain1776
whirl-brain1817
feather-head1834
date1914
bubblehead1916
airhead1971
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > insubstantial > frivolous or not serious
pickstraw1580
Jack with the feather1581
fiddler1591
fribble1610
trifler1612
fribbler1712
toyer1814
frivolist1884
namby-pamby1885
frivoller1889
footler1891
frivol1959
1591 R. Cecil in H. Unton Corr. (1847) 197 This discorse growes by many fidlers in your cause.
1735 W. Pardon Dyche's New Gen. Eng. Dict. Fidler,..a trifling, foolish, or impertinent Person.
b. slang. A swindler, cheat; one who ‘wangles’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > [noun] > one who deceives
swikec1000
wielerOE
adderOE
knavec1275
treacherc1290
guiler1303
gabbera1325
tricharda1327
faitoura1340
jugglera1340
beswiker1340
wernard1362
knackerc1380
beguilera1382
deceiver1382
illusor1382
deceivant1393
fob1393
falsea1400
mocker?c1450
feature14..
deceptor1484
seductor1490
bullera1500
troker?a1500
craftera1529
circumventorc1540
bobber1542
cloyner?1550
illuder?1550
tricker1550
double-dealer1567
treacherer1571
falsary1573
abuser1579
falser1579
treachetour1590
deluder1592
ignis fatuus1592
foolmonger1593
prestigiator1595
aguiler1598
baffler1606
cog-foist1606
feaguer1610
guile-man1614
hocus-pocus1624
colt1632
hoodwink1638
blindfoldera1649
napper1653
cheat1664
fooler1677
underdealer1682
circumvenerc1686
chincher1688
dodger1698
nickum1699
sheep-shearer1699
trickster1711
bilker1717
trickologist1723
taker-in1776
bilk1790
duper1792
Yorkshire bite1801
intake1808
gammoner1819
doer1840
delusionist1841
fiddler1857
snide1874
hoodwinker1884
tanger1886
take-down1888
tiddlywinker1893
wangler1912
frost1914
twicer1924
lurkman1945
jive-ass1964
skanker1973
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > defrauder or swindler > [noun]
feature14..
frauderc1475
prowler1519
lurcher1528
defrauder1552
frauditor1553
taker-upc1555
verserc1555
fogger1564
Jack-in-the-box1570
gilenyer1590
foist1591
rutter1591
crossbiter1592
sharker1594
shark1600
bat-fowler1602
cheater1606
foister1610
operator1611
fraudsman1613
projector1615
smoke-sellera1618
decoy1618
firkera1626
scandaroon1631
snapa1640
cunning shaver1652
knight of industrya1658
chouse1658
cheat1664
sharper1681
jockey1683
rooker1683
fool-finder1685
rookster1697
sheep-shearer1699
bubbler1720
gyp1728
bite1742
swindler1770
pigeon1780
mace1781
gouger1790
needle1790
fly-by-night1796
sharp1797
skinner1797
diddler1803
mace cove1811
mace-gloak1819
macer1819
flat-catcher1821
moonlight wanderer1823
burner1838
Peter Funk1840
Funk1842
pigeoner1849
maceman1850
bester1856
fiddler1857
highway robber1874
bunco-steerer1875
swizzler1876
forty1879
flim-flammer1881
chouser1883
take-down1888
highbinder1890
fraud1895
Sam Slick1897
grafter1899
come-on1905
verneuker1905
gypster1917
chiseller1918
tweedler1925
rorter1926
gazumper1932
chizzer1935
sharpie1942
sharpster1942
slick1959
slickster1965
rip-off artist1968
shonky1970
rip-off merchant1971
1857 ‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue 8 Fiddler, a sharper, or cheat. Thieves.
1932 ‘Ex-Convict No. ——’ Dartmoor from Within v. 107 B——..was..what is termed in prison ‘a clever fiddler’.
1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Aug. p. iv/1 He is a ‘spiv’ or a ‘fiddler’,..for he has offended against the principles of ‘fairness’ which is..the virtue nearest to the Englishman's heart.
1962 D. Warner Death of Bogey i. ii. 10 Spivs and pimps, fiddlers and tweedlers.
c. A meddlesome or interfering person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > acting in another's business or intervention > [noun] > interference or meddling > one who
meddlerc1450
intermeddler1601
intermitter1611
interferer1803
meddle-come1857
fiddler1952
1952 A. Grimble Pattern of Islands vii. 143 Interfering with the customs of simple peoples..can end by leaving them bereft of their national will to live. The fiddler is a killer on a grand scale.
3. slang. A sixpence.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > English coins > [noun] > sixpence
tester1560
half-shilling1561
teston1577
mill sixpence1592
crinklepouch1593
sixpencea1616
testrila1616
piga1640
sice1660
Simon1699
sow's-baby1699
kick1725
cripple1785
grunter1785
tilbury1796
tizzy1804
tanner1811
bender1836
lord of the manor1839
snid1839
sprat1839
fiddler1846
sixpenny bit or piece1897
zac1898
sprasey1905
1846 ‘Lord Chief Baron’ Swell's Night Guide (new ed.) 119/1 Fiddler, a sixpence.
1848 Sinks of London laid Open 106 Fiddler, a sixpence.
1885 Househ. Words 20 June 155/2 A more easily explained name [for a sixpence] is a Fiddler..probably from the old custom of each couple at a dance paying the fiddler sixpence.
4.
a. See quots.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > angel-fish or monk-fish
monkfish1582
sea-monk1611
sea-devil1634
kingston1666
angelfish1668
skate1668
piper1673
mermaid fish1738
fiddle-fish1748
fiddler1750
monk1756
angel shark1776
shark-ray1836
puppy-fish1880
squat1884
sea-angel1891
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > member of > unspecified > resembling cockroach
fiddler1750
1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados 82 Fiddlers. This fly..much resembles a cockroach.
1887 W. D. Parish & W. F. Shaw Dict. Kentish Dial. Fiddler, the angel or shark-ray.
b. A local name for the Sandpiper ( Tringoides hypoleucus).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Tringa > tringa hypoleucos (common sandpiper)
sea-lark1602
sandpiper1674
sand laverock1694
sandy laverock1710
sand lark1771
summer snipe1794
shad-bird1879
fiddler1885
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 196 Fiddler (Hebrides).
c. A small crab of the genus Gelasimus. Also fiddler-crab.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Thoracostraca > order Decapoda > suborder Brachyura (crab) > member of Ocypodidae (fiddler-crab and sand crab)
fiddler1714
calling crab1832
lady crab1844
sand crab1844
sand fiddler1852
fighting crab1868
1714 J. Lawson Hist. Carolina 162 Fidlars are a sort of small Crabs, that lie in Holes in the Marshes.
1867 W. B. Lord Crab, Shrimp, & Lobster Lore 29 A ‘Fidler-Crab’ (as it is sometimes called from the rapidity with which it works its elbows).
1883 ‘M. Twain’ Life on Mississippi xlviii. 479 The drainage-ditches were everywhere alive with little crabs—‘fiddlers’.
Compounds
C1. attributive.
a.
fiddler lad n.
ΚΠ
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet I. xii. 275 ‘De'il's in the fiddler lad,’ was muttered from more quarters than one.
b.
fiddler-like adj.
ΚΠ
1628 T. Venner Baths of Bathe (1650) 359 It is Fidler-like.
1660 J. Howell Θηρολογια 128 He was dismissed Fidler-like, with meat, drink, and money.
C2.
fiddler beetle n. an Australian beetle, Eupœcila australasiæ, belonging to the family Scarabæidæ.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > eupoecila australasiae (fiddler beetle)
fiddle-back1890
fiddler beetle1917
1907 W. W. Froggatt Austral. Insects 161 The Fiddler, Eupoecila australasiae,..is black and reddish brown, marked upon the thorax and elytra with green stripes.]
1917 Austral. Naturalist Apr. 184 At Tuggerah Lakes in September, 1916, a cluster of cocoons of the Fiddler beetle were found at the base of a hollow stump of a Eucalyptus.
1926 R. J. Tillyard Insects Austral. & N.Z. xx. 231 The Fiddler Beetle, Eupoecila australasiae Don..is common in Eastern Australia in November.
1945 K. C. McKeown Austral. Insects 145 One of the commonest species is Eupoecila australasiae Don., the Fiddler Beetle; it is black with bright green hieroglyphics on the elytra.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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