Etymology

guqin

gu·qin
G2U1Q10I1N1

Today it means: A plucked zither-like stringed instrument (chordophone), traditionally featuring seven unfretted strings, originating in ancient China. Full definition →

Mandarin 古琴
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Mandarin · borrowed from古琴
  2. English todayguqin

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 古琴 (gǔqín), made up of 古 (gǔ, “ancient”) and 琴 (qín, “stringed instrument”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.