Fiddle | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Fĭd'dle, n.

noun

(fid'dl), n. [A.-S. fiðhele, N. H. Ger. Fiedel, M. H. Ger. videle, O. H. Ger. fidula, either from Lat. fidicula, diminutive of fides, a stringed instrument, or from L. Lat. vitula, vidula, musical instrument, from Lat. vitulari, to be joyful, to celebrate a festival, originally to spring like a calf, vitulus.]

(Mus.) A stringed instrument of music; a violin; a kit.
(Bot.) A perennial plant; a species of dock; Rumex pulcher. London.

To play second fiddle, to take a subordinate part, like one who plays the second to a leading performer on the violin. [Colloq.]

Fid'dle, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. [imp. & p. p. FIDDLED; p. pr. & vb. n. FIDDLING.] 1. To play on a fiddle or violin. Themistocles said he could not fiddle, but he could make a small town a great city. Bacon. 2. To shift the hands often and do nothing, like a fellow that plays on a fiddle; to tweedle; to trifle. The ladies walked, talking, and fiddling with their hats and feathers. Pepys.

Fĭd'dle, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. To play on a fiddle.