guitar

Alternative forms

• guittar (obsolete)
• gittar (eye dialect)

Etymology

From Spanish guitarra, from Arabic قِيثَارَة‎ (qīṯāra), from Latin cithara, from Ancient Greek κιθάρα (kithára). Compare zither.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɡɪˈtɑː(ɹ)/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɡɪˈtɑɹ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)
• (Southern American English) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɪ.tɑɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

  Hyphenation: gui‧tar

Noun

guitar (plural guitars)

1. (music) A stringed musical instrument, of European origin, usually with a fretted fingerboard and six strings, played with the fingers or a plectrum (guitar pick).
2. (music) Any type of musical instrument of the lute family, characterized by a flat back, along with a neck whose upper surface is in the same plane as the soundboard, with strings along the neck and parallel to the soundboard.

Verb

guitar (third-person singular simple present guitars, present participle guitaring, simple past and past participle guitared)

1. (rare) To play the guitar.

See also

• Appendix:Glossary of chordophones

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡitar/, [ˈɡ̊itˢɑːˀ]

Noun

guitar c (singular definite guitaren, plural indefinite guitarer)

1. guitar