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accordare

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word accordare

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1219 Breve di Montieri More words from the 13th century
Inherited from
Latin *accordo
Ultimate origin
Latin cor
Derivations

Pronunciation

  • /ak.korˈda.re/[1]

Forms

accordare (first-person singular present accòrdo, first-person singular past historic accordài, past participle accordàto, auxiliary avére)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *accordāre, formed on Latin cor (“heart”) after concordō (“to agree”), with the prefix changed to ad-.[2][3][4][5] The LEI explains the change by the model of pairs such as assentire and consentire.[6] From “to give the same heart” the meaning moved to “to harmonize”, and in music the verb was associated with corda “string”, above all in accordatore and accordatura.[3][4][7]

The origin has been disputed.[2] Prati and Devoto separate the musical sense and derive it from Vulgar Latin *acchordāre, from Latin chorda (“string of an instrument”), from Ancient Greek χορδή (khordḗ).[8][9][10] Battisti and Alessio keep the musical sense separate but admit that the relation is unclear, since the Latin verb for “to agree” could itself mean “to sound together” in Ovid, and the link with the string may have been made once the tie with the heart was no longer felt.[11][12] The LEI holds that the word for “heart” is the base, with a strong influence of the word for “string” already in Latin, and that two separate etyma are not needed.[6] DELI and the TLIO lean the same way, though the TLIO keeps a second entry for the musical senses.[2][13]

The verb is found in all the western Romance languages: French accorder, Old Occitan acordar, Catalan acordar, Spanish acordar, Portuguese acordar, Sardinian accordare, Romansh acorder and Friulian acordá.[6][3][14] The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱḗr (“heart”), also the source of English heart.[1][15]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is reflexive, in the Breve di Montieri of 1219, meaning “to come to an agreement, be agreed”.[2][5][16] The TLIO's earliest text is Uguccione da Lodi's Libro, from the early 13th century, in the dialect of Cremona.[13]

Semantic evolution

The transitive senses followed in the late 13th century: “to bring into harmony” and, in grammar, “to make words agree in gender, number, case and person” in Brunetto Latini, and “to tune an instrument” in Bono Giamboni.[2] The sense “to grant” is found before 1313 in Cecco Angiolieri; in 1848 Ugolini's purist dictionary allowed it only for granting something asked for, such as a pardon, and not for any gift.[2] Old Italian also used the verb for figures that tally, for verses that rhyme and even for “to remember”.[13]

The derivatives tell the same story: accordatore, the tuner of instruments, is in Boccaccio around 1340, accordatura “tuning” in Lanfranco in 1533.[2] The noun accordo “pact” appears as Medieval Latin acordum at Venice in 1218 and in Italian in the Novellino;[2] d'accordo “in agreement” is in Dino Compagni (1310–1312), and the musical “chord” in Vincenzo Galilei in 1581.[2] Newer technical senses are tuning an oscillating circuit to resonance and stringing a tennis racket.[5][17]

Timeline

  • 1218 – Medieval Latin acordum “pact” is recorded at Venice.[2]
  • 1219 – The reflexive accordarsi appears in the Breve di Montieri.[2][5]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the verb for tuning instruments.[2]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for “to bring into harmony” and for grammatical agreement.[2]
  • 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses d'accordo.[2]
  • Before 1313 – Cecco Angiolieri uses it for “to grant”.[2]
  • 1340–1342 – Boccaccio uses accordatore.[2]
  • 1533 – Accordatura is recorded in Lanfranco.[2]
  • 1581 – Vincenzo Galilei uses accordo for a musical chord.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To bring into agreement, reconcile: Il mediatore cercò di accordare le due famiglie.[5][10][16]
  2. To make things match or correspond; to harmonize, especially colours: accordare le tende al divano.[5][4][16]
  3. (music) To tune an instrument; to bring several instruments or voices into tune with one another.[5][10][7]
  4. To grant something asked for: accordare una proroga.[5][16][7]
  5. (grammar) To make a word agree with another in gender, number, case and person.[5][10][16]
  6. (physics) To adjust an oscillating system so that it resonates with another.[5]
  7. (tennis) To string a racket.[5][17]
  8. (reflexive, accordarsi) To come to an agreement; to match or go well with something.[16][7][18]

Word family

  • accordo
  • accordatore
  • accordatura
  • accordabile
  • accordata
  • disaccordo
  • scordare
  • raccordare
  • accordamento
  • accordanza

Usage notes

Battisti and Alessio's DEI gives two headwords, one for “to reconcile” and one for the musical sense, and the TLIO also has two entries;[11][13][2][6] DELI, Nocentini, the LEI and the modern dictionaries treat it as one verb.[11][13][2][6] The Old Italian accordanza of the Sicilian poets was taken from troubadour verse.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 310
  7. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  8. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
  9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 31
  12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  13. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  14. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  15. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  16. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  17. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  18. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Accordare.” Etymologically, 10 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/accordare. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·