chord

¹

[kawrd]

noun

1. a feeling or emotion.

   His story struck a chord of pity in the listeners.

2. Geometry.,  the line segment between two points on a given curve.

3. Engineering, Building Trades.,  a principal member of a truss extending from end to end, usually one of a pair of such members, more or less parallel and connected by a web composed of various compression and tension members.

4. Aeronautics.,  a straight line joining the trailing and leading edges of an airfoil section.

5. Anatomy.,  cord.

chord

²

[kawrd]

noun

1. a combination of usually three or more musical tones sounded simultaneously.

verb (used with object)

1. to establish or play a chord or chords for (a particular harmony or song); harmonize or voice.

   How would you chord that in B flat?

chord

¹

/ kɔːd /

noun

1. maths

   1. a straight line connecting two points on a curve or curved surface

   2. the line segment lying between two points of intersection of a straight line and a curve or curved surface

2. engineering one of the principal members of a truss, esp one that lies along the top or the bottom

3. anatomy a variant spelling of cord

4. an emotional response, esp one of sympathy

   the story struck the right chord

5. an imaginary straight line joining the leading edge and the trailing edge of an aerofoil

6. archaic,  the string of a musical instrument

chord

²

/ kɔːd /

noun

1. the simultaneous sounding of a group of musical notes, usually three or more in number See concord discord

verb

1. (tr) to provide (a melodic line) with chords

chord

1. A line segment that joins two points on a curve.

2. A straight line connecting the leading and trailing edges of an airfoil.

chord

1. In music, the sound of three or more notes played at the same time. The history of Western music is marked by an increase in complexity of the chords composers use.

Other Word Forms

• chorded adjective
• chordal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of chord¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin chorda < Greek chordḗ gut, string; replacing cord in senses given

Origin of chord²

1350–1400; earlier cord, Middle English, short for accord; ch- from chord ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of chord¹

C16: from Latin chorda, from Greek khordē gut, string; see _cord

Origin of chord²

C15: short for _accord ; spelling influenced by _chord ¹

Idioms and Phrases

see strike a chord.

Example Sentences

The composition’s frantic strings and minor chords cleverly emphasize the brilliance of Oliphant’s cartoons depicting the circus of the politically obscene.

From Salon

I like odd chord changes; when I was singing with the Jazz Passengers, that was sort of like going to college for me, they used all kinds of time signatures and harmonics and things.

From Los Angeles Times

Then it grows small again, a lonely keyboard wandering a broken chord as Bryant’s voiceover admits that his body can only play for so long.

From Los Angeles Times

He began at midday on Wednesday and with a plan to strum his last chord at 18:00 BST on Thursday, he could end up beating the previous official record by six hours.

From BBC

"As they say, three chords and the truth. And this clearly wasn't it."

From BBC

Related Words

• arc 
• arch 
• contour 
• loop 
• trajectory