zither

found: New Grove dict. of mus. WWW site, Feb. 24, 2005(Two main senses in modern organology: a large category of string instruments also known as "simple chordophone"; more limited and perhaps more familiar, a small group of Alpine folk and popular instruments. From the late 15th century the term "zither" was used exclusively to denote chordophones with necks, of the cittern type. It was only from the early 19th century that the name began to be used for descendants of the north European Scheitholt type of instrument, which had no neck and frets placed directly on the box. Zithers were already major instrument types in China by the mid-Zhou dynasty (7th-5th centuries BCE). Numerous related zithers subsequently emerged among other Asian cultures.)

found: Marcuse, S. Musical instrumentsCither (obs. Engl. form of the word zither)