Gittern

Gittern [OFr. guiterne], together with its Continental equivalents and vars., git-tern is a generic term by which the *guitarra latina, the *guitarra morisca, and their offspring were known outside Spain, the word itself corresponding to guitarra. By the time Tinctoris wrote (late 15th a), “gittern” and “guitar” were already syn. According to contemporary descriptions, we can differentiate between 2 main types: 1. one with flat back and belly, slight waist, a short, fretted neck at first carved…