▪ I. zither, n.
(ˈzɪθə(r))
Also 9 zithern, zitt(h)er, zittern.
[ad. G. zither: see cither, cithern.]
a. A musical instrument (introduced into England c 1850 from Austria) having from thirty to forty strings let into the lower rim of a shallow resonance-box, and played by striking with the fingers and thumb.
In modifications of the instrument a fretted finger-board is fitted across a resonance-box shaped like a heart (bow zither) or like a viola (viola zither), and the instrument is played with a bow.
| 1850 The Initials iv, I expected some such proposition as soon as I heard the sound of the zither. 1864 in Webster. 1868 Daily News 14 Aug., A couple of musicians, one playing the violin, another an instrument something like the zittern. 1871 Meredith Harry Richmond xxx, Nothing haunted me so much as those tones of her zither. 1874 R. H. Busk Vall. Tirol Pref. p. vi, Just as..the barrel-organ supersedes the zitther and the guitar. 1886 Ruskin Præterita II. vi. 215 He is playing..on a kind of zithern-harp. |
b. Comb., as
zither music,
zither player;
zither-playing,
zither-tinkling adjs.;
zither-banjo, a modification of the zither, resembling a banjo.
| 1900 Referee 9 Dec. 3 (Cass. Suppl.), Mr. ―'s ‘Valse des Fleurs’, with a zither-banjo. |
| 1881 W. Black Sunrise iii, He was passionately fond of zither music. |
| 1850 The Initials iv, The untutored singers and zither players. |
| 1982 C. McIntosh Swan King viii. 83 A fun-loving, zither-playing, somewhat bohemian character. |
| 1925 E. Sitwell et al. Poor Young People 2 Among the zither-tinkling round green leaves. |
Hence
ˈzitherist, a performer on the zither.
| 1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 8 Feb. 6/1 The Zitherist to his Highness the Duke of Nassau. |
▸ More generally: any musical instrument consisting of a string or strings stretched across a soundboard of some type (and
freq. also a resonator) without extending past the body of the instrument.
| 1893 R. Wallaschek Primitive Music iii. 122 A bamboo ‘zither’, the strings of which are of reed fibers stretched over a wooden bridge. 1921 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Jrnl.-Gaz. (Electronic text) 26 June An agglomeration of sound evoked from one-string fiddles, Chinese zithers, and..drums. 1964 S. Marcuse Musical Instruments 560/1 Valiha, idiochord tube zither of the Malagasy Republic..made of bamboo with 7–20 strings. 2005 Independent (Nexis) 1 Aug. 10 See Syria's premier zither player Abdullah Chhadeh. |
▪ II. ˈzither, v. [f. the n.] intr. To play the zither. Also
fig. (
occas. also
trans.). Hence
ˈzithering ppl. a. Some of the examples could equally well be interpreted as being of echoic origin, with the sense ‘to make a sibilant humming sound, buzz lightly’.
| 1906 W. J. Locke Beloved Vagabond (1907) ix. 120 We wandered and fiddled and zithered and tambourined through France. 1930 R. Campbell Adamastor 71 The sunlight, zithering their flanks with fire, Flashes between the shadows as they pass. 1958 J. Townsend Young Devils iv. 35 His squeaky voice zithered through morning or afternoon. 1973 Art Internat. Mar. 57/1 Balla's zithering Rhythm of the Violinist is considerably more effective. 1979 H. McLeave Double Exposure i. 1 The helicopter..trailing a zithering shadow. 1981 B. Carter Black Fox Running xxvii. 176 Insects zithered and chirred. |