cittern-head

See also: citternhead

English

Alternative forms

• citternhead

Etymology

So called because the handle of a cittern usually ended with a carved head.

Noun

cittern-head (plural cittern-heads)

1. (obsolete) A blockhead; a dunce.
   • 1599, W. Kinsayder or Theriomastix [pseudonyms; John Marston], The Scourge of Villanie. […], London: […] I[ames] R[oberts], →OCLC; republished as G[eorge] B[agshawe] Harrison, editor, The Scourge of Villanie (The Bodley Head Quartos; 13), London: John Lane, The Bodley Head […]; New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton & Company, 1925, →OCLC:

     Shall brainless cittern-heads, each jobbernoul, / Pocket the very genius of thy soul?

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:cittern-head.

References

• “cittern-head”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.