zithern
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zith·er
(zĭth′ər, zĭth′-) also zith·ern (-ərn)n.
A musical instrument composed of a flat sound box with about 30 to 40 strings stretched over it and played horizontally with the fingertips, a plectrum, or a bow, or set into vibration by the wind, as in the Aeolian harp.
[German, from Middle High German *zitter, from Old High German zitera, from Latin cithara, cithara, from Greek kitharā.]
zith′er·ist n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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| Noun | 1. |  zithern - a musical stringed instrument with strings stretched over a flat sounding board; it is laid flat and played with a plectrum and with fingersdulcimer - a trapezoidal zither whose metal strings are struck with light hammers stringed instrument - a musical instrument in which taut strings provide the source of sound |
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