Art & MusicGreek → English
Zither
/ˈzɪðər/noun
A flat stringed instrument played on the lap or a table, without a neck.
The Greek roots
κιθάρα
kithára
lyre-like instrument
Literally: “kithara”
Follow a root:κιθάρα5 words
The story of the word
The kithara was the professional's instrument in Greece, heavier and louder than the amateur lyre, and it is the one Apollo holds. Its name spread across Europe and came out different at each stop: German Zither, Spanish guitarra by way of Arabic, English cittern and gittern. Guitar and zither are therefore the same word, separated by about two thousand years of travel.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → German → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
guitarcitterncithara
In a sentence
The theme from The Third Man is a zither, played by a man discovered in a Vienna wine bar.