psaltery
/ˈsɒl.tə.ɹi/noun
psaltery is spelled P-S-A-L-T-E-R-Y: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 159,707th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, 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” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of psaltery is psalteries.
How many letters and syllables are in psaltery?
| Letters | 8: P-S-A-L-T-E-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 28 million words; the 159,707th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is psaltery?
Psaltery appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 159,707th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce psaltery?
- UK /ˈsɒl.tə.ɹi/
- UK /ˈsɒl.tɹi/
- UK /ˈsɔːl-/
Psaltery has 3 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-psaltery.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of psaltery
- psalteries plural
- psaltry
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does psaltery mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A zither-like musical instrument consisting of a soundboard with multiple strings, played by plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Psaltery in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense instrument:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does psaltery come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).