Etymologically
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symphony

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈsɪm.fə.ni/[1]

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

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