cittern


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cit·tern

 (sĭt′ərn) also cith·ern (sĭth′ərn, sĭth′-)
n.
A 16th-century guitar with a flat, pear-shaped body.

[Perhaps blend of Latin cithara, cithara; see cithara, and obsolete English gittern (from Middle English, from Old French guiterne, from Latin cithara).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cittern

(ˈsɪtɜːn) ,

cither

or

cithern

n
(Instruments) a medieval stringed instrument resembling a lute but having wire strings and a flat back. Compare gittern
[C16: perhaps a blend of cither + gittern]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cit•tern

(ˈsɪt ərn)

n.
an old musical instrument related to the guitar, having a flat, pear-shaped soundbox and wire strings.
[1550–60; perhaps b. Latin cithara kithara and Middle French guiterne gittern]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.cittern - a 16th century musical instrument resembling a guitar with a pear-shaped soundbox and wire stringscittern - a 16th century musical instrument resembling a guitar with a pear-shaped soundbox and wire strings
guitar - a stringed instrument usually having six strings; played by strumming or plucking
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
It chanced that out of one of the bundles there stuck the end of what the clerk saw to be a cittern, so drawing it forth, he tuned it up and twanged a harmony to the merry lilt which the dancers played.
? Belshazzar's Feast Mick and James have re-united with Dave Bordewey (fiddle, cittern, harmonies) and are joined by Paul Downes (guitar, mando-cello, mandolin, banjo, harmonies).
Interplay between four violins, with mandolin, cittern, guitar and contrabass, is spiced with a sparkling, high-energy stage show .
Their instruments include bagpipes, whistles, guitars, cittern, drums, and electronics - and the pair will be joined by two of Scotland's finest musicians, Paul Jennings of Croft no 5 fame, and Jenn Butterworth from Kinnaris Quintet.
Songs include accompaniment by guitar, mountain dulcimer, cittern, banjo, and percussion.
From the vibrant blare of shawms, bagpipes and electric guitar to the seductive tones of Turkish clarinet and fiddle and the enchanting delicacy of the renaissance cittern, The Carnival Band are renowned for mixing and matching their collection of more than 20 instruments, adding vocal harmony to create an astonishing range of sounds.
Morag Brown (fiddle) and Lewis Powell-Reid (cittern and accordion) performed an enchanting mix of traditional Scottish, English and Irish music, as well folk tunes from across Europe, the Balkans and Greece.
The instruments--a cittern, bandora, and orpharion--all reject strict equal temperament in favor of what Dolata describes as "utilitarian temperaments combining elements of several varieties of meantone temperament" (p.
They also play cornett, saggbut, and curtal, flutes, recorders great and small, crumhorns, bagpipes, hurdy-gurdies, lute and cittern.
Often performed a cappella, it also makes use of old instruments, such as the cetera, a plucked string instrument of the cittern family.
Featuring 30 dancers, an Irish band and the Tenors (soon to have their own American public television series), the show is packed with colourful Celtic costumes and unusual, rare and traditional musical instruments - Celtic bouzouki, cittern, octave mandolin, melodeon, tin whistle, harps, fiddles and more.
Co-produced with his longtime confidant Guy Fletcher, it features an A-list of frequent collaborators, such as John McCusker on fiddle and cittern, Mike McGoldrick on whistle and flute, bassist Glenn Worf and drummer Ian 'Ianto' Thomas.