cord

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /kɔːd/, US /kɔːrd/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French corde (“rope, string”),^[2][3][4] from Latin chorda, string, catgut,^[2][3][5] from Greek χορδή (khordḗ, “gut, string of a lyre”),^[2][3][4] which Barnhart relates to Sanskrit hirā́, band, and Old Norse gǫrn, gut, from an Indo-European root meaning gut.^[2] chord, a straight line, is its doublet.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A string or small rope of several twisted strands: before 1300;^[6][2] the surname Cordemaker is from 1199.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The hangman's rope is from about 1330,^[6] and a tendon or cord-like body part (vocal cords) from about 1400.^[3][4] Figuratively, anything that binds or restrains is from the late 14th century.^[3] As a measure of cut wood, 128 cubic feet, it is from the 1610s, so called because it was measured with a cord.^[3][4] A raised rib on cloth is from 1776,^[3] giving cord for corduroy.^[7] Cordage is from 1490.^[2] In North America a cord is also an electric flex.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 1199 – Cordemaker (surname).^[2]
• before 1300 – a string or rope.^[6]
• c. 1400 – a tendon.^[3]
• 1490 – cordage.^[2]
• 1610s – a measure of wood.^[3]
• 1776 – a rib in cloth.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. String or thin rope made of twisted strands.
2. A flexible insulated electric cable with a plug.
3. A structure in the body like a cord, such as the spinal cord or vocal cords.
4. A measure of cut wood, 128 cubic feet.
5. Corduroy, or a rib in cloth.

Verb

1. To tie or bind with a cord.

Word family

• corder
• cordlike
• cordgrass
• cordite
• cordotomy
• corduroy
• cordwood
• whipcord

Related words

• chord
• cordon
• cordage

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin