[L. laudo.]

An instrument of music with strings. It consists of four parts, viz; the table, the body or belly which has nine or ten sides, the neck, which has nine or ten stops or divisions marked with strings, and the head or cross. In the middle of the table there is a passage for the sound. There is also a bridge to which the strings are fastened. The strings are struck with the right hand, and with the left the stops are pressed.