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sitar

[si-tahr]
See more synonyms for sitar on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a lute of India with a small, pear-shaped body and a long, broad, fretted neck.
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Origin of sitar

First recorded in 1835–45, sitar is from the Hindi word sitār
Related formssi·tar·ist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sitar

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • They got the ship all right, but Dunark and Sitar got away—they're still with their salt!

    Skylark Three

    Edward Elmer Smith

  • Or his voice, deep and soft as the sitar when it sings of love?

  • Sitar jumped up happily, completely restored, and the three women threw their arms around each other.

    Skylark Three

    Edward Elmer Smith

  • The remnant of an sitar, or high place, occupies the centre of the cloistered quadrangle.

    Diary in America, Series Two

    Frederick Marryat (AKA Captain Marryat)

  • Motee sang again; but the accompaniment was wild and irregular, and the Khan at last threw down the sitar.

    Confessions of a Thug

    Philip Meadows Taylor

British Dictionary definitions for sitar

sitar

noun
  1. a stringed musical instrument, esp of India, having a long neck, a rounded body, and movable frets. The main strings, three to seven in number, overlie other sympathetic strings, the tuning depending on the raga being performed
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Derived Formssitarist, noun

Word Origin

from Hindi sitār, literally: three-stringed
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sitar

n.

1845, from Hindi sitar, from Persian sitar "three-stringed," from si "three" (Old Persian thri-; see three) + tar "string" (see tenet).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper