Citharist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A performer adept in playing a particular stringed instrument resembling a lyre is characterized by their musical skill
2. This title denotes someone whose expertise lies in string music, especially with instruments like the lyre
3. A musician who specializes in playing a stringed instrument similar to the lyre

Etymology: The word "citharist" is built from two parts that come straight from Greek. The first is "cithara," the Latin borrowing of the Greek "kithara," a stringed instrument plucked with the fingers, the larger and more formal cousin of the lyre. The second is the suffix "-ist," which marks a person who practises or performs something, as in "pianist" or "violinist." Put together, the term names a performer of the cithara, a player whose craft belongs to the ancient world of Greek and Roman music. English speakers tend to meet the word in classical scholarship and historical writing, where it distinguishes a professional harp-style player from the everyday singer or lyre-player.

Synonyms: lyrist, harpist