psaltery
/ˈsɔl.tə.ɹi/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.56 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
1
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A zither-like musical instrument consisting of a soundboard with multiple strings, played by plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum.
Example Sentences
- "And at the dedication of the wall of Ieruſalem, they ſought the Leuites out of all their places, to bꝛing them to Ieruſalem, to keepe the dedication with gladneſſe, both with thankeſgiuings and with ſinging, with cymbals, pſalteries, and with harpes."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: sauterie, psalterie, psaltērium, ψαλτήριον
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈsɔl.tə.ɹi/
- British English: /ˈsɒl.tə.ɹi/
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
psalterist
psalteryist