Etymograph

English

gittern

Gittern comes from Latin cithara ‘cithara, cittern, zither, lyre, lute, guitar’, and goes back to Ancient Greek κιθάρα.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκιθάρα‘lyre’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcithara‘cithara, cittern, zither, lyre, lute, guitar’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400guiterne
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500giterne
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1820gittern

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκιθάρα‘lyre’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcithara‘cithara, cittern, zither, lyre, lute, guitar’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400guiterne
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500giterne
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1820gittern

Earliest quotation: 1820, John Keats, Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil. A Story from Boccaccio.: “Now they can no more hear thy ghittern’s tune,…”

Linked words

through Latin cithara ‘cithara, cittern, zither, lyre, lute, guitar’

zither, 4 more

Today it means

noun A small, quill-plucked, gut-strung musical instrument, most commonly with three to four strings in doubles courses; it is a flat-backed predecessor of the guitar, and it originated around the 13th century, coming to Europe via Moorish Spain.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek κιθάρα / gittern

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