philharmonic

Etymology

Most dictionaries take it as borrowed from French philharmonique,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} from Italian filarmonico (“loving harmony”),^[2][3][8][9] formed from fil- and armonico (“harmonic”).^[7][8] Barnhart traces the parts to Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos, “loving”) and to the neuter plural of ἁρμονικός (harmonikós, “musical”), used for the theory of music.^[3][2][10] The OED, revising the entry in 2006, treats it instead as formed from English philo- + harmonic within English, on the model of the Italian word, which was in use from 1543–5 in the name of the Filarmonici, a musical society in Verona; it dates the French word to 1739 as a noun but only to 1797 as an adjective.^[11] Etymonline gives the French word as 1739,^[2] and Dictionary.com also takes it as from English phil- + harmonic, modelled on French or Italian.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Loving harmony; fond of or devoted to music: 1740, in C. Avison's Six Concerto's in Seven Parts.^[11][7] Etymonline and Barnhart date the word to 1813, when it was taken into the name of the Philharmonic Society, founded in London that year to promote instrumental music.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

As a noun the word first meant a lover of music (1762–1816).^[11][4] After the London Philharmonic Society, a Philharmonic concert (1862) was one the Society gave, and the first Philharmonic orchestra (1895) was the Society's own; in the 20th century many symphony orchestras took the name, such as the Berlin and the New York Philharmonic.^[3][2] The adjective is now used chiefly, the OED says only, in such names,^[11] and as a noun a Philharmonic is an orchestra, society or concert of the kind, from the late 18th century in the OED and the mid 19th in the Shorter Oxford.^[11][4] In Cockney rhyming slang philharmonic is tonic water, or a gin and tonic (recorded 1992).^[13]

Timeline

• 1740 – adjective, loving harmony, devoted to music.^[11][7]
• 1762 – noun, a lover of music (obsolete by 1816).^[11][7]
• 1813 – the Philharmonic Society, London.^[2][3]
• 1862 – a Philharmonic concert.^[3]
• 1895 – a Philharmonic orchestra.^[3]
• 1992 – rhyming slang, tonic water.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (often capitalized, as part of a name) Of an orchestra, choir or society devoted to performing and studying music: the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.^[6][7][11]
2. (archaic) Fond of music.^[6][7][4]

Noun

1. (often capitalized) A philharmonic orchestra, society or concert.^[6][7][11]
2. (rhyming slang) Tonic water; a gin and tonic.^[13]
3. (obsolete, 1762–1816) A lover of music.^[11][4][7]

Related words

• harmonic
• harmony
• philo-

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
13. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com