An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Zither

by Friedrich Kluge

Zither, Cither, f., ‘guitar, zither’; formed like the equiv. OHG. cithara, zitera, f., from the equiv. Lat. cithara. MidHG. has only zitôle, f., ‘zither,’ from OFr. citole, which, like Ital. cétera, comes from Lat. cîthara. Ital. and Span. guitarra, whence Fr. guitare, ModHG. Guitarre, ‘guitar,’ is, on the other hand, derived from Gr. κιθάρα.