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guitare

Etymology and origin of the French word guitare

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1275–1280, quitarre (Roman de la Rose)
Borrowed from
Spanish guitarra
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (κιθάρα)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡi.taʁ/[1]

Forms

guitare f (plural guitares)[1] Quitarre (1275–1280), guitare moresche (1349), guitarre (1360), guitare (1373); guittare in the Académie of 1740.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish guitarra (about 1330),[2][4][5][6][7] borrowed from Arabic قيثارة (qīṯāra),[2][5][1] itself from Ancient Greek κιθάρα (kithára, “cithara, lyre”).[2][4][5][1][8] Rey says the Arabic step is only probable, and that the link with a Persian name of an instrument meaning “three strings” is unclear;[4] the GLLF gives Old Occitan guitarra as the source.[3] The form “quitarre” is a separate adaptation of the Spanish word with an unvoiced first consonant.[2]

The Greek word also gave French cithare and cistre, doublets.[1] Old French had guiterne, more common until the 17th century.[5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Jean de Meun's part of the Roman de la Rose (1275–1280) has quitarre among musical instruments;[2][4] the guitare moresche, the Moorish guitar, appears in 1349.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Medieval Spain distinguished the guitarra latina, close to the modern guitar, from the three-stringed morisca, close to the lute.[4] The word came to mean a guitar player (19th century) and, figuratively, a tedious, oft-repeated refrain (1858).[4][3] In carpentry it names a kind of timber joint (1866).[2][4]

The 20th century added guitare électrique, guitare hawaïenne and, by contrast, guitare sèche “acoustic guitar”.[4][3] The player is a guitariste (1829).[5]

Timeline

  • 1275–1280 – Quitarre (Roman de la Rose).[2]
  • c. 1330 – Spanish guitarra.[2][6]
  • 1349 – Guitare moresche.[2][6]
  • 1360 – Guitarre.[2][5]
  • 1829 – Guitariste.[5]
  • 1858 – “A worn-out refrain”.[4]
  • 1866 – A carpentry joint.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A guitar: guitare électrique, guitare sèche.[7][1]
  2. (dated, figurative) A tiresome, often-repeated tune or story.[3][4]
  3. (slang) A leg.[1]
  • cithare
  • cistre
  • citole
  • English guitar

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 717b
  9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Guitare.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/guitare. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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