Chifonie

Chifonie [Gk. *symphonia], var. of the OFr. word symphonie, in use from the 12th c. to the 15th to designate the hurdy-gurdy. By Deschamps's day (1380) it had already become a mendicant's instr. (“aveugle chifonie aura”). It was later called vielle, although the old name lingered on (Laborde still used it in 1780) (124). Laborde, Jean Benjamin de. Essai sur la musique ancienne et moderne. Paris, 1780.