Hurdy-gurdy Hungarian lowlands, but was the normal term for the instrument on Csepel island directly south of Budapest. The equivalent names "ninera" and "niněra" are used in Slovakia and the Czech Republic respectively. In Russian and Ukrainian the instrument is called "wheel lyre" ("колёсная лира", "колісна ліра"). In Poland it is called "cranked lyre" (lira korbowa). "Leier", "lant", and related terms today are generally used to refer to members of the lute or lyre family, but historically had a broader range of meaning and were used for many types of stringed instruments. In her overview of the instrument's history, Palmer recorded
Hurdy-gurdy German name, "Bauernleier", means "peasant's lyre". In Italy, it is called the "ghironda" or "lira tedesca" while in Spain, it is a "zanfona" in Galicia, "zanfoña" in Zamora, "rabil" in Asturias and "viola de roda" in Catalonia. In the Basque language, it is known as a "zarrabete". In Portugal, it is called "sanfona". The Hungarian name "tekerőlant" and the alternate "forgólant" both mean "turning lute." Another Hungarian name for the instrument is "nyenyere", which is thought to be an onomatopoeic reference to the repetitive warble produced by a wheel that is not even. This term was considered derogatory in the