zither
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of zither
1840–50; < German < Latin cithara < Greek kithárá; see kithara
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Explanation
A zither is a musical instrument, kind of like a guitar without the neck and way more strings. You play a zither by strumming or plucking the strings with your fingers or a pick. Zither comes from the same root word as guitar — the Greek word kithara for "lute.” They’re all stringed instruments, but a zither’s strings go across the sound box. An Autoharp is a kind of zither, so if you've played an Autoharp, you've played a zither. Zithers are often used in European folk music, and have about 30-40 strings. Originally, the zither was an Austrian instrument, but it’s been used in England since the mid-1850s.
Vocabulary lists containing zither
Musical Instruments - Middle School
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Musical Instruments - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Women wearing long wigs and ornate traditional dresses milled around a pebbled courtyard, stopping to snap photos under a pavilion, as the melodious strumming of the Chinese zither played in the background.
From Barron's ● Nov. 14, 2025
Diners listen to the guzheng, a Chinese zither, while they sit at boat-shaped tables surrounded by landscapes around the West Lake, an icon of the coastal province.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2025
Playing zither and kalimba, a solar-intense Laraaji unlocked sheafs of astounding, ethereal noise, an unintended, confident rebuke to what had been happening before his arrival.
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
For “Bound,” Huang turned to Vietnamese instruments, using both the đàn bầu, a type of lute, and đàn tranh, a type of zither.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 7, 2023
He would shut himself up for hours on end to play the zither.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
