cithara

American  

[sith-er-uh] / ˈsɪθ ər ə /

noun

1. kithara.

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cithara British  

/ ˈsɪθərə /

noun

1. a stringed musical instrument of ancient Greece and elsewhere, similar to the lyre and played with a plectrum

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Other Word Forms

• citharist noun

Etymology

Origin of cithara

C18: from Greek kithara

Example Sentences

In fact, Nero often played a type of lyre called a cithara.

From Scientific American • Aug. 9, 2023

Diaphanous gold and black chiffon dresses, bound with winding ribbons, pleated and worn with metallic cithara garlands.

From New York Times • May 30, 2017

Among the Greeks many judges, and those by no means of the least reputation, gave the most decided preference to the music of the cithara, the lyre of Apollo, over the flute.

From The History of Antiquity, Vol. I (of VI) by Duncker, Max

The lute and cithara, from the opposite side, took it up.

From Unfinished Portraits Stories of Musicians and Artists by Lee, Jennette

There was no part-singing in Greece, but merely a singing, or rather chanting, of national and patriotic songs in unison, accompanied by the cithara, the national instrument.

From A Popular History of the Art of Music From the Earliest Times Until the Present by Mathews, W. S. B. (William Smythe Babcock)