Psaltery Definition
sôltə-rē
psalteries
noun
A stringed instrument of the zither family, popular esp. in 12th-15th cent. Europe, having a modified trapezoidal body and a variable number of strings plucked with the fingers of both hands or a pair of quills.
Webster's New World
Other Word Forms of Psaltery
Noun
Singular:
psaltery
Plural:
psalteriesOrigin of Psaltery
From Ancient Greek ψαλτήριον (psalterion) “stringed instrument, psaltery, harp", from ψάλλω (psallo) “to touch sharply, to pluck, to pull, to twitch" and in the case of the strings of musical instruments, “to play a stringed instrument with the fingers, and not with the plectron"
From Wiktionary
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Middle English psalterie from Old French from Latin psaltērium from Greek psaltērion from psallein to play the harp pāl- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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