zither

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a stringed instrument with many strings stretched across a flat, usually horizontal soundbox and played by plucking or strumming

   The musician placed the zither on the table and plucked a bright arpeggio.

2. 2
   noun

   organology: any neckless chordophone whose strings run across or parallel to its body, including instruments from many musical traditions

   The museum displayed a Chinese guqin as one member of the broad zither family.

3. 3
   verb

   rare: to play a zither

   The ensemble zithers softly beneath the singer's opening verse.

Simplified etymology

Zither entered English around 1850 from German. The German name ultimately descends from Greek kithara, a lyre-like instrument, through the same broad historical word family that produced guitar, though the names came to denote different instruments.

Borrowed from German Zither, from Old High German zithara, ultimately Latin cithara and Greek kithara, a stringed instrument. It is related by descent or borrowing to cither, cithara, and guitar, though the modern instruments differ in form.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary