Etymologically
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harmony

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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

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)