cithara

American  

[sith-er-uh] / ˈsɪθ ər ə /

noun

1. kithara.

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cithara British  

/ ˈsɪθərə /

noun

1. a stringed musical instrument of ancient Greece and elsewhere, similar to the lyre and played with a plectrum

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Other Word Forms

• citharist noun

Etymology

Origin of cithara

C18: from Greek kithara

Example Sentences

In fact, Nero often played a type of lyre called a cithara.

From Scientific American • Aug. 9, 2023

Diaphanous gold and black chiffon dresses, bound with winding ribbons, pleated and worn with metallic cithara garlands.

From New York Times • May 30, 2017

The lyre, with which Baccio Ugolino as Orfeo accompanied himself, may have been a cithara, but the probabilities are that it was not.

From Some Forerunners of Italian Opera by Henderson, W. J. (William James)

She swept her cithara, and the tenor voice took up the notes.

From Unfinished Portraits Stories of Musicians and Artists by Lee, Jennette

It was derived directly from the classical cithara introduced by the Romans into Spain, the archetype of the structural beauty which formed the basis of the perfect proportions and delicate structure of the violin.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 6 "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad" by Various