accompaniment

Etymology

It is formed from English accompany + -ment,^[2][3][4] probably on the model of French accompagnement.^[2][3] Etymonline, Klein, the Shorter Oxford and the ODE derive it directly from the French noun,^[5][6][7][8] which is formed from accompagner (“to accompany”).^[5][6][8] In Old French acompaignement was a kind of legal contract (1264), a feudal power-sharing agreement in Merriam-Webster's words; the French word meant a group of people accompanying someone from 1539, the action of accompanying from 1549, and a musical accompaniment from 1690.^[2][3] Accompany is from Old French acompaignier (“to take as a companion”), from a- (“to”) and compaignier, from compaign, the source of companion.^[5] The OED compares Spanish acompañamiento, Italian accompagnamento and Catalan acompanyament.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In music, a part, usually instrumental, that supports a voice or instrument: 1697, in a stage direction in John Eccles's Europe's Revels for Peace.^[2] Merriam-Webster also dates it to 1697,^[3] while Etymonline's first record is from heraldry in 1731^[5] and Dictionary.com dates the word to 1725–35.^[4] An earlier accompaniment of 1669 is apparently a misprint for accomplishment.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word entered English as a musical term and widened from there.^[2][7] By 1721 it meant the act of playing such a supporting part, while from 1728 it meant a piece of music played as a background to a performance or activity.^[2] The general sense, something that goes along with or complements something else, is recorded from 1709,^[2] though the Shorter Oxford dates it to the mid-19th century.^[7] In heraldry an accompaniment was an ornament set beside a shield, a sense now rare;^[2] Etymonline gives it as "something that attends another as a circumstance", in 1731.^[5] By 1767, in Adam Smith, it could also mean the fact of being accompanied.^[2] Etymonline dates the musical sense of the subordinate parts added to a solo or concerted piece to 1744.^[5]

Timeline

• 1697 – music, a part that supports a voice or instrument.^[2][3]
• 1709 – something that accompanies or complements something else.^[2]
• 1721 – music, the act of playing an accompanying part.^[2]
• 1728 – music played as a background to an activity; in heraldry, an ornament beside a shield.^[2] Etymonline dates the heraldic use to 1731.^[5]
• 1767 – the fact of being accompanied; the act of accompanying.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A musical part, usually instrumental, that supports a melody, a soloist or a choir: She sang with a guitar accompaniment.^[9][3][2]
2. Something that goes with or is served with something else: Rice is a good accompaniment to the stew.^[9][2]
3. Something added to give completeness or symmetry, such as an ornament.^[3][9]
4. (heraldry, rare) An ornament or accessory shown beside a shield or coat of arms.^[2][5]

Word family

• accompanimental
• nonaccompaniment

Related words

• accompany
• accompanist
• company
• companion

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins