symphony

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French simphonie (“harmony; a musical instrument”),^[2][3][4][5] also taken directly from symphōnia (“a harmony of sounds, a concert; a musical instrument”),^[3][6][2] from Ancient Greek συμφωνία (sumphōnía, “agreement of sound, concert”),^[2][3][7] from σύμφωνος (súmphōnos, “harmonious”),^[4][8][9] formed from σύν (sún, “together”) and φωνή (phōnḗ, “voice, sound”), the source of phone and phonetic.^[7][3][8] The Anglo-Norman word, recorded from the second quarter of the 12th century, meant concordant sound or a musical instrument such as a bagpipe or hurdy-gurdy.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Any of various musical instruments: c1290, in the South English Legendary life of St Thomas,^[2] about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline.^[6][3] John Trevisa described it in 1398 as a drum of hollow wood covered with leather on both sides and beaten with sticks.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The name was given to many different instruments, from the dulcimer and the virginal to the bagpipe and a double-headed drum;^[11][12][3] this sense lasted into the 19th century.^[2] From the late 14th or the 15th century the word meant harmony of sound,^[3][2] It meant agreement or harmony in general from 1598.^[2] The sense "music in parts, performed together" is recorded from the 1590s.^[3][2] In the 17th century it came to mean an instrumental passage in a vocal work, such as an introduction or interlude: Pepys used it in 1661.^[2][13][11] Such pieces, and the overture to an opera, led to the 18th-century orchestral symphony,^[2][11] which Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories credits chiefly to Haydn;^[11] this sense is first recorded in 1789, in Charles Burney's General History of Music.^[2][13][3] Figurative uses for a harmonious combination of sounds (1654) or of colours (1874) followed.^[2] Since 1926 symphony has also been short for symphony orchestra.^[2][3]

Timeline

• c1290 – a musical instrument.^[2]
• c1440 – harmony of sound.^[2]
• 1598 – harmony, agreement in general.^[2]
• 1599 – music in parts, concerted music.^[2]
• 1661 – an instrumental passage in a vocal work.^[2][13]
• 1789 – an orchestral composition in several movements.^[2][13]
• 1856 – symphonic.^[13]
• 1874 – a harmony of colours.^[2]
• 1881 – symphony orchestra.^[13]
• 1926 – short for symphony orchestra.^[2][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A long composition for orchestra, usually in three or four movements, at least one of them in sonata form.
2. An instrumental passage in a vocal work, such as an introduction or interlude; a sinfonia.
3. A symphony orchestra; a concert given by one: We have tickets for the symphony on Friday.
4. Something with a harmonious variety of elements, such as sounds or colours: a symphony of autumn reds and golds.
5. (archaic) Harmony of sounds; consonance.

Word family

• presymphony
• symphonette
• symphonic
• symphonist

Related words

• cacophony
• euphony
• phone
• sinfonia

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 t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology