guitar English · revision 4952

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1621|origins=grc κιθάρα}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ɡɪˈtɑː/, US /ɡɪˈtɑːr/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|es|guitarra]], partly through [[m|fr|guitare]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) ultimately from [[grc|κιθάρα|tr=kithárā|t=cithara, a kind of lyre]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) through Latin cithara.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) MWU traces it through Arabic qīṭār,^(MWU 2024) while Etymonline thinks the Arabic word perhaps came from Spanish or Greek.^(Etymonline) The Greek word is possibly from a Mediterranean language,^(Barnhart 1988) or perhaps from Persian sihtar, the source of [[sitar]].^(Etymonline) It is a doublet of [[cithara]], [[zither]] and [[gittern]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A musical instrument of the lute family with six strings: 1621 in the OED and Barnhart, as guittara in Ben Jonson's Gipsies Metamorphosed.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) MWU dates it to 1668.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Greek kithara gave many local instruments in post-classical Europe, and several reached English: citole and giterne (early 14th century), gittern, cithern (1560s), cittern (1590s), cither (about 1600) and later zither.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) In the 17th century the word was also spelled guitarra, gittar and guitarre,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and it was associated with the earlier gittern, known in England by 1350.^(Barnhart 1988) The guitar was particularly popular in Spain and at times in France and England.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1621 – the instrument (guittara).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1688 – the form gittar.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1817 – verb, to serenade with a guitar.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A stringed [[musical instrument]] with a long neck and usually six strings, played by plucking or strumming.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[guitarist]]

+ * [[guitarfish]]

+ * [[acoustic guitar]]

+ * [[air guitar]]

+ * [[electric guitar]]

+ * [[Hawaiian guitar]]

+ * [[pedal steel guitar]]

+ * [[slide guitar]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cithara]]

+ * [[zither]]

+ * [[gittern]]

+ * [[cittern]]

+ * [[sitar]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}