OK - let's dance on the pinhead...

And, if you check an encyclopedia of music rather than a general dictionary, you'll soon find instruments much earlier than the violin described as a fiddle. (WAV)

You're missing a vital semantic distinction, here, David. Many instruments have been labelled with the general term "fiddle", but they are not themelves actual fiddles or part of what we know as the fiddle family. The term has been used loosely to describe a general category of stringed instruments played with a horsehair bow. The fact that they have been labelled "fiddles" as a general semantic term doesn't make them phyically part of the actual fiddle family.

It's similar to a sax player referring to his instrument as a "horn". It's a general term, but the instrument is not an actual horn. The Memphis Horns are a famous soul backing section, but there isn't a real orchestral horn in sight - the group is made up of saxes, trumpets, etc.