From Greek 'kithára' through Arabic and Spanish — the same root independently gave English 'zither' and 'sitar.'
A stringed musical instrument with a fretted fingerboard, typically having six strings, played by plucking or strumming.
From Spanish guitarra, from Arabic qīṭāra or kīṭāra, from Greek kithára (κιθάρα), a large lyre-like plucked string instrument of classical antiquity. The Greek kithára is of uncertain further etymology — possibly borrowed from a Near Eastern source related to Persian sitar (three-stringed, from si, three + tār, string), though the direction of borrowing is disputed. The instrument's name traced a remarkable geographic arc: Greek kithara gave Latin cithara, which produced Old
The English words 'guitar,' 'zither,' and 'sitar' all descend from the same ancient root — Greek 'kithára' — but arrived in English by three completely different routes: 'guitar' through Arabic and Spanish, 'zither' through Latin and German, and 'sitar' through Persian and Hindi.
Words closest in meaning, ranked by similarity