Dulcimer

From Old French doulcemelle, probably from Latin dulce melos ("sweet song"), from Ancient Greek Î¼ÎÎ»Î¿Ï‚ (melos, "melody, song").

Full definition of dulcimer

(plural dulcimers)

(musical instruments) A stringed instrument, with strings stretched across a sounding board, usually trapezoidal. It's played on the lap or horizontally on a table. Some have their own legs. These musical instruments are played by plucking on the strings (traditionally with a quill) or by tapping on them (in the case of the hammer dulcimers).The two classes of dulcimer are the "Mountain" or "Appalacian" dulcimer (plucked and played with a quill, usually a goose quill) and the hammer dulcimer (played by tapping on the strings with small "hammers"). See also: zither

1797, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Other Poems Chapter Kubla Khan, A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid
And on her dulcimer' she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
1946, January 25, 1947, , Album Reviews: The Seven Joys of Maryâ€”John: Jacob Niles (Disc 732), Accompanying himself with his dulcimer, a plectrum instrument of his own handicraft, Niles harks back to the balladeers of old.
2004, Madeline MacNeil, You Can Teach Yourself Dulcimer, Played traditionally, the dulcimer sounds delightful with drones acenting the melody you are playing.