Use specifically for plucked chordophones developed in the European Renaissance, having a large pear-shaped body composed of thin, narrow ribs, a flat top, central circular soundhole covered by a rose, and from seven to ten frets on the neck. For the general class of all chordophones with the plane of the strings running parallel to the resonator and a neck that serves both as string bearer and as handle, see "lutelike chordophones."
Source: AAT
http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300042101
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