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.

• 🇫🇷Instrument de musique à cordes pincées, dont les cordes sont tendues au-dessus d'une caisse plate et que l'on pose à plat pour en jouer avec un plectre et les doigts, ou instrument du XVIe siècle ressemblant à une guitare à caisse en forme de poire et à cordes métalliques.

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.

   🇫🇷Cithare plane

   Synonymes: 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.

   🇫🇷cistre (instrument de la Renaissance)

   Synonymes: citherncittern