hurdy-gurdy

Meanings

1. A stringed instrument that produces a droning sound by turning a handle that connects to a wheel that rubs against a rosined string, with a keyboard also used to alter the pitch of the string.
2. Synonym of street organ, often considered a misnomer.
3. A water wheel with radial buckets, driven by the impact of a jet.
4. A winch, a windlass.

1. Sounding like the Swedish language.

Etymology

Probably onomatopoeic in imitation of the sound produced by the stringed instrument. Compare obsolete hirdy-girdy (“an uproar; noise”). Attested from the 1740s.