name
Meaning 1
A town in Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
biwa
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
name
Meaning 2
A lake in Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Lake Biwa
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A plucked lute, originating in the classical and traditional music of Japan, characterized by a pear-shaped body and four or five high frets, giving the instrument a distinctively twangy tone.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Borrowing from Japanese 琵琶 (biwa). Doublet of bipa and pipa.
Across languages
Translations
9 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Catalan: biwa — lute
- Chinese Mandarin: 日本琵琶 (Rìběn pípa) — lute
- Finnish: biwa — lute
- Japanese: 琵琶 (biwa) — lute
- Korean: 비와 (biwa) — lute
- Malay: biwa — lute
- Marathi: बिवा (bivā) — lute
- Polish: biwa — lute
- Russian: би́ва (bíva) — lute