A Renaissance-era stringed instrument similar to a lute, with a flat back and double courses of strings.
From Spanish bandurria, ultimately from Arabic al-oud. This spelling variant became common in English during the 16th century when the instrument was fashionable in England.
Shakespeare's contemporaries would have heard bandoras in theaters and courts—it's one of the few instruments from that era that we can directly connect to specific Renaissance plays and composers.
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