mandolin-banjo

Noun

 * 1)  A hybrid string instrument (chordophone), combining the membrane-soundboard body of a banjo and the neck of a mandolin or violin.

Usage notes
There are at least three different instruments that share the same name and several synonyms. There is a five-stringed instrument with the body of a mandolin and the neck of a banjo (the banjo-mandolin); there is another instrument with the body of a banjo and the neck of a mandolin (the mandolin-banjo), most commonly with eight or four strings; one type of the latter instrument has four strings (the banjolin). The terminology associated with these three instruments is highly inconsistent, however, and any of the synonyms may be used to refer to any of the three instruments.