psaltery means A zither-like musical instrument consisting of a soundboard with multiple strings, played by plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum.
psaltery is pronounced /ˈsɒl.tə.ɹi/.
Why “psaltery” is a great word
A zither-like musical instrument consisting of a soundboard with multiple strings, played by plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum. From Middle English sauterie, from Old French psalterie, from Latin psaltērium, from Ancient Greek ψαλτήριον (psaltḗrion, 'stringed instrument'), from ψάλλω (psállō, 'to pluck'), first attested c. 1300. Unlike a zither, which suggests a broader, modern folk category, or a harp, whose strings are framed perpendicular to its soundboard, the psaltery is an ancient board with strings running parallel across its face. It is the quiet, resonant pluck in a monastic scriptorium, the gleam of wire strings against polished wood in candlelight, and the specific, plainchant-accompanying timbre that seems to hang in stone air long after the note has faded—a sound made not for halls, but for the intimate, vertical space between prayer and vaulted ceiling.
Etymology
A learned alteration of Middle English sauterie, sautrie (rarely psautry), from Old French psalterie, from Latin psaltērium, from Ancient Greek ψαλτήριον (psaltḗrion, “stringed instrument, psaltery, harp”), from ψάλλω (psállō, “to touch sharply, to pluck, to pull, to twitch” and in the case of the strings of musical instruments, “to play a stringed instrument with the fingers, and not with the plectron”). Doublet of psalter, psalterion, and psalterium. Cognate of psalm and psalmody.
noun
- A zither-like musical instrument consisting of a soundboard with multiple strings, played by plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- psalterion 78% match — Synonym of psaltery. vs psaltery →
- zither 74% match — A musical instrument consisting of a flat sounding box with numerous strings placed on a horizontal surface, played with a plectrum or fingertips. vs psaltery →
- psalterist 72% match — Someone who plays a psaltery. vs psaltery →
- psalmodicon 71% match — A simple zither-like single-stringed chordophone (stringed instrument), played with a bow, of Scandinavian origin. vs psaltery →
- zithern 67% match — A zither vs psaltery →
- epigonion 64% match — An ancient stringed instrument, apparently a harp or psaltery. vs psaltery →
- psalterian 64% match — Relating to a psalter; musical. vs psaltery →
- cittern 63% match — A stringed instrument (chordophone), played with a plectrum (a pick), and most commonly possessing four wire strings and chromatic frets, which is a precursor to the modern day guitar. vs psaltery →