cither

A musical stringed instrument with strings stretched over a flat sounding board, laid flat and played with a plectrum and fingers, or a 16th century instrument resembling a guitar with a pear-shaped soundbox and wire strings.

• 🇩🇪Ein Saiteninstrument mit über einem flachen Resonanzboden gespannten Saiten, das flach liegend mit Plektrum und Fingern gespielt wird, oder ein Instrument des 16. Jahrhunderts, das einer Gitarre mit birnenförmigem Korpus und Metallsaiten ähnelt.

1. Flat stringed instrument C1 formal art

   A musical instrument with strings stretched over a flat, wooden soundboard, played horizontally with a plectrum or fingers.

   • She played a gentle melody on the cither.
   • The cither produces a soft, resonant tone.
   • He learned to play the cither from his grandmother.

   🇩🇪Zither

   Synonyme: cithernzitherzithern

2. Renaissance guitar-like instrument C2 formal art

   A 16th-century stringed instrument with a pear-shaped body and wire strings, similar to a guitar.

   • The museum displayed a beautifully preserved cither from the 1500s.
   • Renaissance music often featured the cither in courtly performances.
   • He studied the history of the cither for his thesis.

   🇩🇪Cister

   Synonyme: citherncittern