psaltery

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromψαλτήριον“stringed instrument, psaltery, harp”
2. Latin · derived frompsaltērium
3. Old French · derived frompsalterie
4. Middle English · inherited fromsauterie
5. English todaypsaltery

A learned alteration of Middle English sauterie, sautrie (rarely psautry), from Old French psalterie, from Latin psaltērium, from Ancient Greek ψαλτήριον (psaltḗrion, “stringed instrument, psaltery, harp”), from ψάλλω (psállō, “to touch sharply, to pluck, to pull, to twitch” and in the case of the strings of musical instruments, “to play a stringed instrument with the fingers, and not with the plectron”). Doublet of psalter, psalterion, and psalterium. Cognate of psalm and psalmody.

Words from the same roots