cithara

See also: cíthara

English

Alternative forms

• kithara

Etymology

From Latin cithara, from Ancient Greek κιθάρα (kithára). Doublet of cither, guitar, and zither.

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, cathair

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Latin

Alternative forms

• citera (Vulgar Latin)

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κιθάρα (kithára).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈki.tʰa.ra/, [ˈkɪt̪ʰärä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃi.ta.ra/, [ˈt͡ʃiːt̪ärä]

Noun

cithara f (genitive citharae); first declension

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

Declension

First-declension noun.

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
• citharizō

Descendants

Through the nonstandard form citera (attested in the Appendix Probi):

• Middle French: citre
  • French: cistre
• Italian: cetra
• Old Occitan: sedra, cidra
• Old Spanish: cedra
• Romanian: ceteră

Borrowings:

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

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 Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “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