Etymology

gittern

G2I1T1T1E1R1N1

Today it means: 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. Full definition →

Middle English giterne ← Old French guiterne ← Latin cithara
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromcithara
  2. Old French · derived fromguiterne
  3. Middle English · inherited fromgiterne
  4. English todaygittern

Inherited from Middle English giterne, from Old French guiterne, ultimately from Latin cithara. Doublet of cittern.

Words from the same roots

Latincithara all →

zithercitharacitole

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.