gittern

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gittern

/ˈɡɪtən/ UK
/ˈɡɪtəɹn/ US

Rhymes with -ɪtə(ɹ)n

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English giterne, from Old French guiterne, ultimately from Latin cithara. Doublet of cittern.

noun gitterns · ghittern

A small, quill-plucked, gut-strung musical instrument, most commonly with three to four strings in doubles courses; it is a flat-backed predecessor of the guitar, and it originated around the 13th century, coming to Europe via Moorish Spain. Now they can no more hear thy ghittern’s tune, / For venturing syllables that ill beseem / The quiet glooms of such a piteous theme.
Similar: quintern

verb gitterns · gitterning · gitterned

To play on the gittern. c. 1639-1640. John Milton, The Cambridge Manuscript; Excerpts from pages 35-41, as Reprinted in David Masson, editor & author, The Life of John Milton: Narrated in Connection with the Political, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of his Time; Volume II, London and New York.: MacMillan and Co, 1871

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MLA

"gittern." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gittern. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

gittern. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gittern

Chicago

"gittern." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gittern.

BibTeX

@misc{gittern_2026,
  title = {gittern},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gittern},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}