cithara

See also: cíthara

English

Alternative forms

• kithara

Noun

cithara (plural citharas or citharai)

1. (music) An ancient Greek stringed instrument, which could be considered a forerunner of the guitar.

Related terms

• guitar

Anagrams

• Cathari, Chaitra

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Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κιθάρα (kithára).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈki.tʰa.ra/, [ˈkɪ.tʰa.ra]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃi.ta.ra/, [ˈt͡ʃiː.ta.ra]

Noun

cithara f (genitive citharae); first declension

1. (music) cithara, lyre, lute, guitar

Inflection

First declension.

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	cithara	citharae
genitive	citharae	citharārum
dative	citharae	citharīs
accusative	citharam	citharās
ablative	citharā	citharīs
vocative	cithara	citharae

Derived terms

• citharicen
• citharista
• citharizo

Descendants

• French: cithare, cistre (see there for further descendants)
• Italian: cetra
• Portuguese: cítara
• Spanish: cítara
• → Arabic: قِيثَارَة‏ (qīṯāra) (see there for further descendants)
• → Danish: citer
• → Middle Dutch: cythaer
  • Dutch: citer
• → English: cithara
• → Old High German: zitera, cithara
  • German: Zither (see there for further descendants)
• → Polish: gitara (see there for further descendants)

References

• cithara in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cithara in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “cithara” in Félix Gaffiot’s Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette (1934)
• cithara in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cithara in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin