Barbitos
/ˈbɑːr.bɪ.tɒs/noun
An ancient Greek stringed instrument resembling a lyre, traditionally associated with lower-pitched music.
Did you know?The barbitos was linked with the Greek god Dionysus and appears in ancient artistic depictions of music, festivity, and ecstatic ritual.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Greek
Ancient Greek
βάρβιτος (bárbitos)
“A large or deep-toned stringed instrument resembling a lyre.”
Hellenistic Greek
Greek
βάρβιτον (bárbiton)
“A barbitos or related form of the same stringed instrument.”
1st Century BCE–1st Century CE
Latin
barbitus
“A Greek musical instrument adopted into Latin literary vocabulary.”
Renaissance Scholarship
Neo-Latin
barbitos
“A term revived by scholars describing the ancient Greek instrument.”
Modern English
English
barbitos
“A historical term for an ancient Greek lyre-like instrument.”