The term guitar was initially mentioned in a 1637 translation of Horace’s Art of Poetry. During classical Rome, guitars as we know them today did not exist; the term likely referred to a lute or was simply a creative interpretation. The word guitar originates from the Spanish guitarra, which traces back to the instrument’s roots in fifteenth-century Iberia. It may also have Arabic origins in qitara, but ultimately stems from Latin cithara, describing a lyre-like instrument used in Ancient Greece (which also contributed to the term zither). The original Greek term was kithara, with a possible Proto-Indo-European connection due to its similarity to the Persian sihtar, the precursor to the word sitar. The term keytar emerged in 1979, while the rare verb to guitar was first recorded in 1816.
