Word.ws English Dictionary

psaltery

/ˈsɒl.tə.ɹi/US/ˈsɔl.tə.ɹi/

psaltery noun: a zither-like musical instrument consisting of a soundboard with multiple strings, played by plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum.

Noun

psaltery (plural psalteries)

  1. A zither-like musical instrument consisting of a soundboard with multiple strings, played by plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum.
    • And at the dedication of the wall of Ieruſalem, they ſought the Leuites out of all their places, to bꝛing them to Ieruſalem, to keepe the dedication with gladneſſe, both with thankeſgiuings and with ſinging, with cymbals, pſalteries, and with harpes.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Nehemiah 12:27

psaltery meaning in Tagalog, Arabic and Thai

psaltery in Tagalog

instrument
salterio

psaltery in Arabic

instrument
سُنْطُور آلَةْ مُوسِيقِيَّة sunṭūr ʔālat mūsīqiyya

psaltery in Thai

instrument
เครื่องดนตรีโบราณ kherụ̄̀xngdntrī borāṇ

Synonyms of psaltery

Forms of psaltery

pluralpsalteries
alternative formpsaltry
alternative form (obsolete)sawtry

Origin of psaltery

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.

Words formed from psaltery

Questions about psaltery

What does psaltery mean?
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.
What is psaltery in Tagalog?
Psaltery in Tagalog is salterio. See Psaltery meaning in Tagalog.
What part of speech is psaltery?
Psaltery is a noun.
How do you pronounce psaltery?
Psaltery is pronounced /ˈsɒl.tə.ɹi/ (UK).
What is the plural of psaltery?
The plural of psaltery is psalteries.

Words near psaltery in the dictionary

  1. psalterions
  2. psalterist
  3. psalterists
  4. psalterium
  5. psalters
  6. psaltery
  7. psaltes
  8. psaltress
  9. psaltries
  10. psaltry
  11. Psamathe

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: psaltery (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-psaltery.wav.

Cite this entry: “psaltery.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/psaltery. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.