a stringed musical instrument with a long, fretted neck, a flat, somewhat violinlike body, and typically six strings, which are plucked with the fingers or with a plectrum.
gui·tar (gĭ-tär') n. A musical instrument having a flat-backed rounded body that narrows in the middle, a long fretted neck, and usually six strings, played by strumming or plucking.
[French guitare, from Spanish guitarra, from Greek kitharā, cithara.] gui·tar'ist n.
1621, ult. from Gk. kithara "cithara," a stringed musical instrument related to the lyre, perhaps from Pers. sihtar (see sitar); the name reached Eng. several times, including early 14c. giterne, in reference to various stringed, guitar-like instruments; the modern word is directly from Sp. guittara, from Arabic qitar, from the Gk.