zither

zith·er

any of a family of musical instruments with strings stretched across a flat soundboard and plucked, bowed, struck with mallets, etc., as the dulcimer, koto, psaltery, etc.
a folk instrument of this type of Austria and S Germany

Origin of zither

German from Classical Latin cithara from Classical Greek kithara, lute

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"zither." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 11 October 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/zither>.

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zither. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/zither

zither

also zith·ern

noun

A musical instrument composed of a flat sound box with about 30 to 40 strings stretched over it and played horizontally with the fingertips, a plectrum, or a bow, or set into vibration by the wind, as in the Aeolian harp.

Origin of zither

German from Middle High German zitter from Old High German zitera from Latin cithara cithara from Greek kitharā

Related Forms:

zith′er·ist
noun

zither

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"zither." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 11 October 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/zither>.

APA Style

zither. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/zither

Noun

(plural zithers)

A musical instrument consisting of a flat sounding box with numerous strings, placed on a horizontal surface, and played with a plectrum and fingertips; similar to a dulcimer. In the Norwegian harpeleik and Swedish cittra versions, the instrument is considered a chorded zither and usually has 7 (Norwegian) to 9 (Swedish) chords, some with as many as 11 strings each, which are mostly strummed and damped as chords, although sometimes plucked. The Norwegian harpeleik and Swedish cittra are still in production by a German manufacturer.

Origin

From German, from Latin cithara, from Ancient Greek κιθάρα (kithara, “kind of harp”).

A zither

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"zither." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 11 October 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/zither>.

APA Style

zither. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/zither

zither

zither

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zither

zither

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