variants
or less commonly cithern
ˈsi-t͟hərn 
or cithren
-thərn
: a Renaissance stringed instrument like a guitar with a flat pear-shaped body
Examples of cittern in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Lissette Ryan, another music teacher, plays the harp, cittern, guitar, harpsichord, recorder, crumhorn and hurdy gurdy.
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Elizabeth Marie Himchak, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 May 2025
Under her direction, the show featured a pit band of musicians who played Elizabethan instruments like the shawm, sackbut, theorbo, hurdy-gurdy, cittern, tabor and rauschpfeife.
—Alex Traub, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2025
The group brings to the stage a diverse array of instruments, including the accordion, fiddle, bodhran, and cittern, along with vocals and an element of dance.
—Grace Dickinson, Philly.com, 4 Apr. 2018
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Elizabeth Marie Himchak, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 May 2025
Under her direction, the show featured a pit band of musicians who played Elizabethan instruments like the shawm, sackbut, theorbo, hurdy-gurdy, cittern, tabor and rauschpfeife.
—Alex Traub, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2025
The group brings to the stage a diverse array of instruments, including the accordion, fiddle, bodhran, and cittern, along with vocals and an element of dance.
—Grace Dickinson, Philly.com, 4 Apr. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Cittern.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cittern. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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