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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

zither.

A musical instrument consisting of a flat sounding box with numerous strings placed on a horizontal surface, played with a plectrum or fingertips.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈzɪ.ðə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈzɪ.ðɚ/General-American
  1. A musical instrument consisting of a flat sounding box with numerous strings placed on a horizontal surface, played with a plectrum or fingertips.

  2. Related or similar instruments in other cultures, such as the Chinese guqin or Norwegian harpeleik; especially any chordophone without a neck, and with strings that pass over the body.

Where this word comes from

Borrowed from German Zither, from Old High German zithara, from Latin cithara, from Ancient Greek κιθάρα (kithára, “a kind of harp”). Doublet of cithara, cither, and guitar.

verb/ˈzɪ.ðə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈzɪ.ðɚ/General-American
  1. To play a zither.

  2. To make a sound similar to that made by a zither; to move while making such a sound.

Where this word comes from

Borrowed from German Zither, from Old High German zithara, from Latin cithara, from Ancient Greek κιθάρα (kithára, “a kind of harp”). Doublet of cithara, cither, and guitar.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.