cittern
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English
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Woman_with_cittern_1677_by_Pieter_van_Slingeland.jpg/220px-Woman_with_cittern_1677_by_Pieter_van_Slingeland.jpg)
Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Noun
[edit]cittern (plural citterns)
- A stringed instrument (chordophone), played with a plectrum (a pick), and most commonly possessing four wire strings and chromatic frets, which is a precursor to the modern day guitar.
- 1661 January 17, Samuel Pepys, Diary of Samuel Pepys: January 1661:
- This discourse took us much time, till it was time to go to bed; but we being merry, we bade my Lady goodnight, and intended to have gone to the Post-house to drink, and hear a pretty girl play of the cittern (and indeed we should have lain there, but by a mistake we did not), but it was late, and we could not hear her, and the guard came to examine what we were; so we returned to our Inn and to bed, the page and I in one bed, and the two captains in another, all in one chamber, where we had very good mirth with our most abominable lodging.
- 1911, Cittern, article in Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition,
- The cittern consisted of a pear-shaped body similar to that of the lute but with a flat back and sound-board joined by ribs. The neck was provided with a fretted fingerboard; the head was curved and surmounted by a grotesque head of a woman or of an animal.
- 1911, “Guitar”, in Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition:
- The advent of the Spanish guitar in England led to the wane in the popularity of the cittern, also known at that time in contradistinction as the English or wire-strung guitar, although the two instruments differed in many particulars.
- 2000, Musical Instruments Museum, Visitor's Guide[1], page 93:
- Antwerp was world-famous for its harpsichords, but it was also a centre, in the 16th century, where citterns, lutes, viols and later violins were constructed with skill.
Hyponyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]instrument similar to a mandolin
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 2013. Performance Practice: A Dictionary-Guide for Musicians. Roland Jackson. Pg. 90.