Guqin
//ɡuːˈt͡ʃiːn// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A plucked zither-like stringed instrument (chordophone), traditionally featuring seven unfretted strings, originating in ancient China.
"Among those who will be making the Otter valley resound to the strains of the guzheng and erhu is Wu Wenguang, who plays a piece of music 1,800 years old on the guqin, an instrument known to have existed 3,000 years ago."
Example
More examples"Did you practise the guqin this morning?"
Etymology
From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 古琴 (gǔqín), made up of 古 (gǔ, “ancient”) and 琴 (qín, “stringed instrument”).
Related phrases
More for "guqin"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.