Crossword clues for gittern
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Gittern \Git"tern\, n. [OE. giterne, OF. guiterne, ultimately
from same source as E. guitar. See Guitar, and cf.
Cittern.]
An instrument like a guitar. ``Harps, lutes, and giternes.''
--Chaucer.
Gittern \Git"tern\, v. i.
To play on gittern.
--Milton.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
late 14c., from Old French guiterne, from Latin cithara, from Greek kithara (see guitar).
Wiktionary
n. A relatively small, quill-plucked, gut-strung musical instrument, a predecessor of the guitar, that originated around the 13th century and came to Europe via Moorish Spain. vb. To play on the gittern.
WordNet
Wikipedia
The gittern was a relatively small gut strung round-backed instrument that first appears in literature and pictorial representation during the 13th century in Western Europe (Iberian Peninsula, Italy, France, England). It is usually depicted played with a quill plectrum. It was also called the guitarra in Spain, guiterne or guiterre in France, the chitarra in Italy and quintern in Germany. A popular instrument with court musicians, minstrels, and amateurs, the gittern is considered ancestral to the modern guitar; possibly other instruments like the mandore and gallichon.
From the early 16th century, a vihuela shaped (flat-backed) guitarra began to appear in Spain - then France, existing alongside the gittern. Although the round-backed instrument appears to have lost ground to the new form which gradually developed into the guitar familiar today, the influence of the earlier style continued. Examples of lutes converted into guitars exist in several museums, while purpose built instruments like the gallichon utilised the tuning and single string configuration of the modern guitar. A tradition of building round-backed guitars in Germany continued to the 20th century with names like gittar-laute and Wandervogellaute.
Up until 2002, there were only two known surviving medieval gitterns, one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see external links), the other in the Wartburg Castle Museum. A third was discovered in a medieval outhouse in Elbląg, Poland.
Usage examples of "gittern".
The fourth fellow followed with a pack tied across his back, a gittern hanging upside down upon it, and a spotted dog in his arms.
The one with the bold eyes, who had carried a gittern and a little spotted dog with a Welsh name.
He strummed his gittern with the ease of long acquaintance, and stared straight at Isolde.
Is it so hard being mistress of a grand castle that you covet a life in the wildwood with only your lute and gittern and pipes to sustain you?
She bent once more to the five-stringed gittern, grimacing when she formed the chord Reevius had taught her.
Had she lowered her eyes and drawn her hand free of his, he would have picked up the gittern and begun the lesson she wanted.
This time the performance of the minstrels had been more boisterous than before, with tambourines and drums in lieu of gittern and lute.
Better to fetch the gittern, she consoled herself as she made her way on shaky legs to his chamber.
He managed to close the door without slamming it, and lay the gittern aside.
He finished smothering the fire and, grabbing the gittern, he followed her inside.
The warmth must have reached him, for as she reached the chorus, he shook himself, and suddenly his harp joined the jaunty chords of her gittern as his voice joined hers in harmony.
He gazed at the Palace for a moment more, then picked up the case holding his good gittern, squared his shoulders, and headed for the door.
He looked back down at his gittern, and at the leather traveling case.
Stef stood up, collected his gittern and music case from where they were propped beside the door, and slipped out into the hallway, still completely at a loss for what to think.
As he stepped away from the door, he glanced automatically toward the right side of the hearth, beside the bedthe servants always left his luggage there, and he wanted to make sure his gittern was all right before he went to bed.