harmony

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhɑːmə.ni/ (UK); /ˈhɑ̟ɹ.mə.ni/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English armonye, borrowed from Old French armonie (“harmony; a musical instrument”), harmonie,^[2][3][4] from Latin harmonia, from Greek ἁρμονία (harmonía, “joining, agreement, concord of sounds”),^[3][2] related to harmós, a joint, fastening,^[3][2][5] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *ar- (“to fit together”) (see arm).^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A concord of sounds, music, melody: about 1380, in Chaucer's Parlement of Foules;^[2] about 1384 in the OED.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The Greek word was used of the joining of ship's planks and of settled government, and Harmonia was the personification of music.^[3] Agreement, accord, is from about 1385, in Usk's Testament of Love,^[2][3] and the combination of notes to form chords is first recorded in Trevisa before 1398;^[2] Etymonline dates modern scientific harmony to the 16th century.^[3] The combination of parts in a pleasing whole is from about 1532,^[6] and agreement of feeling, concord, from 1588.^[6] In harmony, in agreement, is from 1816.^[6] The plural is harmonies.^[7] In East Suffolk dialect it meant uproar or noise.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – music, melody.^[2]
• c. 1385 – agreement.^[2]
• before 1398 – chords.^[2]
• c. 1532 – a pleasing combination.^[6]
• 1816 – in harmony.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Agreement in feeling or opinion; accord.
2. A pleasing combination or arrangement of parts.
3. (music) A combination of notes sounded together to form chords, or the study of chord structure.

Word family

• disharmony
• harmonic
• harmonics
• harmonious
• harmonist
• harmonize
• harmonise
• disharmonize

Related words

• harmonica
• arm

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)