ἁρμονία

Forms

ἁρμονίᾱ (harmoníā) f (genitive ἁρμονίᾱς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek Ἄρμων (Hármōn) + -ία (-íā): Beekes derives it from an adjective in -μων (-mōn) that survives only as a personal name, Ἄρμων, with the patronymic Ἁρμονίδης in Homer; the adjective is also in βητάρμων (bētármōn, “dancer”).^[2] Like ἅρμα (hárma, “chariot”), it is built on the root ἀρ- (ar-, “to fit”) of ἀραρίσκω (ararískō, “to join, fit together”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to fit”).^[2] LSJ refers it to ἁρμόζω (harmózō, “to fit together”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is a means of joining: the raft of Odysseus is fastened with pegs and ἁρμονίαι, joints.^[3][4] In the Iliad Hector asks for the gods as witnesses of ἁρμονίαι, agreements.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Herodotus uses it for the joints between the planks of a boat, and medical writers for the sutures of the skull.^[3][4] It also meant the frame of a thing, as of the human body, and, figuratively, a person's temperament: Euripides speaks of women's perverse ἁρμονία.^[3][4] Aeschylus uses it of the order established by Zeus.^[3][4] Hesiod already has Harmonia as a name in the Theogony, the personification later taken for music.^[5][6]

In music it first meant stringing: Heraclitus speaks of the ἁρμονία of the bow and the lyre, the tension of opposites.^[3][4] From this it came to mean a tuning or scale, the octave (Philolaus), and a particular mode, such as the Lydian in Pindar and in Plato's Republic;^[3] Aristotle uses it of music in general.^[3][4] It was borrowed as Latin harmonia, the source, through Old French, of the English word harmony.^[7][6] Today Modern Greek αρμονία (armonía) is a learned word for the harmony of parts and, in music, of sounds.^[8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses it for the joints of a raft, the Iliad for agreements.^[3][4]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod names the goddess Harmonia in the Theogony.^[5][9]
• 6th–5th century BC – Heraclitus speaks of the attunement of bow and lyre.^[3][9]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar mentions the Lydian mode.^[3][9]
• 5th century BC – Philolaus uses it for the octave.^[3][9]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato discusses the musical modes in the Republic.^[3][9]
• Late 14th century – English harmony is borrowed through Old French from Latin.^[6]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek αρμονία (armonía) survives as a learned word.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A means of joining, a fastening; a joint, as between the planks of a boat.^[3][4]
2. (anatomy) A suture of the bones.^[3]
3. A framework, especially of the human body; the temperament of a person.^[3][4]
4. (plural) A covenant, agreement.^[3][4]
5. Settled order or government.^[3][4]
6. (music) Stringing, tuning; a scale, the octave; music in general.^[3][4]
7. (music) A particular mode, such as the Lydian or Aeolian.^[3][4]

Related words

• ἁρμόζω (harmózō)
• ἀραρίσκω (ararískō)
• ἅρμα (hárma)
• Latin harmonia
• English harmony

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge