a musical instrument, consisting of a flat sounding box with numerous strings stretched over it, that is placed on a horizontal surface and played with a plectrum and the fingertips.
Origin
1840-50; < German < Latincithara < Greekkithárá; see kithara
Related forms
zitherist, noun
Examples from the web for zither
It is a zither since it does not have the chord bars that are on autoharps.
British Dictionary definitions for zither
zither
/ˈzɪðə/
noun
1.
a plucked musical instrument consisting of numerous strings stretched over a resonating box, a few of which may be stopped on a fretted fingerboard
Derived Forms
zitherist, noun
Word Origin
C19: from German, from Latin cithara, from Greek kithara
Word Origin and History for zither
n.
stringed musical instrument, 1850, from German Zither, from Old High German zitara, from Latin cithara, from Greek kithara "lute" (see guitar).