noun

guitar

gih-TAR/ɡɪˈtɑːr/

A musical instrument with strings and a fretted neck, played by plucking or strumming.

The acoustic guitar rests on a stand with its six strings visible.

A plain acoustic guitar with six strings, fretted neck and curved wooden soundbox rests diagonally on a simple stand.

Etymology

guitarGreeklyre-like stringed instrument

The kithara was an ancient lyre-like instrument with seven strings. Its name survived across different kinds of stringed instruments, eventually naming the fretted instrument now called a guitar.

In context

Lucas Brar0:17

i'm going to take the classical guitar which i learned yesterday and we can play any song so black birds singing in the dead all night but we don't have to play those chords

Jacob Collier explains harmony in 45 seconds

More examples

I practice guitar for twenty minutes every day.
He plugs his electric guitar into an amplifier.
The store sells guitars with nylon or steel strings.

Forms

guitar · guitars

guitarist noun — A musician who plays the guitar.

Similar words

mandolin: A smaller fretted instrument, usually with four pairs of strings.
lute: Typically has a rounded back rather than a guitar's flat back.