Zither

[ˈt͡sɪtɐ]

/[ˈt͡sɪtɐ]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Zither” is uncommon German (frequency #56,704 among 1,996 “Z” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,704
frequency rank, German
1,996
“Z” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Saiteninstrument, dessen Saiten mit beiden Händen gezupft werden

Corpus desk

Index DE-zither · Zither · German

Zither · rank #56,704 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #56,704
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,996
  • PHOTO-FINISH Zimmermädchen

Nearest frequency peer: Zimmermädchen (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „Zither“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „Zither“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Zither
PropertyValue
HeadwordZither
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈt͡sɪtɐ]
Letters6
Frequency rank#56,704
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Zither“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Zitherfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Zimmermädchen“ (#56,703), „zivilrechtlichen“ (#56,705), „zufriedengeben“ (#56,706). Unter 1,996 „Z“-Lemmata liegt „Zither“ bei #56,704. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Zither is uncommon German at frequency #56,704 among 1,996 “Z” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈt͡sɪtɐ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Saiteninstrument, dessen Saiten mit beiden Händen gezupft werden".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Zither, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is Zither, spelled Z-I-T-H-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Saiteninstrument, dessen Saiten mit beiden Händen gezupft werden

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Zither appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. In der alpenländischen Volksmusik wird oft die Zither gespielt.
  2. „Meine Mutter wachte über das Wohlergehen der Zither strenger als über das Wohlergehen ihrer Nähmaschine.“

This word in other languages

zither(English)cítara(Español)cithare(Français)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Zither"?
"Zither" is spelled Z-I-T-H-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈt͡sɪtɐ].
What does "Zither" mean?
As a noun, "Zither" means: Saiteninstrument, dessen Saiten mit beiden Händen gezupft werden
How do you pronounce "Zither"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Zither" is [ˈt͡sɪtɐ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Zither" come from?
"Zither" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Zither", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Zierde#56,701zerrte#56,700zäunen#56,717Vreden#56,671

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list