Rebec
or REBECK, the English name of a three-stringed musical instrument played with a bow. It was of Arabian or Turkish origin, and in its earliest form it probably had a long neck and small round body, made of cocoanut shell, or some such material, over which parchment was stretched to form the sound board. After its introduction into Europe, the third string was added. The rebec gradually assumed the form of a viol, of which it was the precursor.