med_cat: (Default)
Nechama Chaya ([personal profile] med_cat) wrote in [community profile] 1word1day2014-12-19 09:10 pm

Friday word: Zither

Another z-word ;)
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zith·er noun \ˈzi-thər, -thər\

: a musical instrument that has strings stretched across a shallow wooden box and that is played with your fingers or a pick

: a stringed instrument having usually 30 to 40 strings over a shallow horizontal soundboard and played with pick and fingers

Etymology:

German, from Old High German zitara, cithara, from Latin cithara kithara, from Greek kithara

First Known Use: 1850

You can see one such highly decorated instrument over here

[identity profile] sonneta.livejournal.com 2014-12-20 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
Ooh, that one is pretty!

R.E.M. has a song called "Zither" which features said instrument.

[identity profile] theidolhands.livejournal.com 2014-12-21 04:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Another great-sounding word, I don't think I ever knew it was German in origin either. Thank you!