guitar (English)

Where does "guitar" come from?

The English word 'guitar' arrived from Spanish 'guitarra'[1]. The Spanish term traces back to Arabic 'قِيثَارَة'[1], which was borrowed from Aramaic 'קיתרא', coming ultimately from Ancient Greek 'κῐθᾰ́ρᾱ'[2]. Along the way, the word is also a doublet of 'cithara', 'cither', and 'zither'.

Open questions

The Ancient Greek term may have been acquired from a Pre-Greek origin, which could be related to Proto-Hurro-Urartian. [3] [4]
The relationship between Proto-Hurro-Urartian and Proto-Semitic forms for the instrument remains uncertain, with potential borrowing in either direction. [4] [5]

Full etymology tree

guitar (English), 'A stringed musical instrument, of European origin, usually with a fretted fingerboard and six strings, played with the fingers or a plectrum (guitar pick).'
- borrowed guitarra (Spanish), 'guitar'
  - inherited guitarra (Old Spanish), 'classical guitar'
    - borrowed قيثارة (qīṯāra) (Arabic), 'guitar'
      - borrowed קיתרא (qīṯrā) (Aramaic), 'any stringed musical instrument (guitar, harp, lyre, etc.)'
        borrowed κιθάρα (kithára) (Ancient Greek), 'lyre'
        inherited (Pre-Greek)
        derived *kinnar (Proto-Hurro-Urartian), 'lyre, harp'

Ancestors

guitarra (Spanish)
κιθάρα (Ancient Greek)

Cognates and doublets

cithara (English)
cither (English)
zither (English)

Descendants and derived words

ጊታር (Amharic)
গিটার (Bengali)
acoustic guitar (English)
air guitar (English)
air guitar (English)
armónico guitar (English)
banjitar (English)
baritone guitar (English)
Baroque guitar (English)
bass guitar (English)
bottleneck guitar (English)
bowed guitar (English)

Sources

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris