harmonize, v.
(ˈhɑːmənaɪz)
Also 5 armonyse.
[a. F. harmoniser (15–16th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), f. harmonie harmony: see -ize.]
† 1. intr. To sing or play in harmony. Obs. rare.
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 255 b/2 The Thrones Songen, the domynacyons maden melodye, The pryncypates armonysed. |
2. a. intr. To be in harmony (with); to accord, agree (in sense, sentiment, feeling, artistic effect, etc.).
| 1629 Lightfoot Erubhim 153 R. Tancuman shewes how the making of the Tabernacle harmonizeth with the making of the world. 1839 James Louis XIV, III. 24 It harmonizes well with his general character. 1850 M. Cosh Div. Govt. ii. i. (1874) 129 Green..harmonises with red. Mod. The colours do not harmonize. |
b. Mus. To be in harmony, form a concord.
| 1855 Bain Senses & Int. ii. ii. §10 The sounds that harmonise are..related to one another numerically in the number of their vibrations. |
3. trans. To bring into harmony, agreement, or accord; to make harmonious. a. To make harmonious or concordant in sound; to attune. (In quot. 1791, to fill with harmony or music.)
| 1700 Dryden Cymon & Iph. 34 Love first invented verse, and form'd the rhime, The motion measur'd, harmoniz'd the chime. 1791 W. Bartram Carolina 286 Most of these beautiful creatures who annually people and harmonize our forests and groves..are birds of passage. 1864 Tennyson Sea Dreams 247 A music harmonizing our wild cries. |
b. To reduce to internal harmony; to render tranquil or peaceful; to make agreeable in artistic effect. Also absol.
| 1727–46 Thomson Summer 467 Every passion aptly harmoniz'd. 1749 Johnson Irene iii. i, When social laws first harmonized the world. 1798 A. Seward Lett. (1811) V. 136 Those habits of style which..harmonize and inspirit. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. ii. xlviii, Bluest skies that harmonize the whole. 1850 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. iv. (1872) 59 It is the graces of the Spirit which harmonize the man, and make him one. |
c. To bring into agreement (two or more things, or one thing with another); to reconcile.
| 1767 A. Young Farmer's Lett. People 22 The wise policy..is to harmonize agriculture and manufactures. 1845 Maurice Mor. & Met. Philos. in Encycl. Metrop. II. 588/1 An attempt to harmonize the doctrines of the schools. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. iv. iii. 259 A man must have harmonised himself with the scenery. |
d. To form a harmonious combination with.
| 1852 Art-Jrnl. Apr. 117/3 If it is necessary that the colours of the different articles of dress should..harmonise with each other. 1862 Englishwoman's Domestic Mag. May 60/1 Flowers, and shells, and coloured fabrics that harmonise admirably with themselves and with the tropical scenery among which she lives. 1925 R. W. G. Hingston in E. F. Norton Fight for Everest, 1924 265 Then unexpectedly the bird alights, the crimson colour vanishes, the white spots disappear, and the bird again harmonizes with the hill. 1949 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. II. 72/1 Colour is used in one of the following ways: to break up the outline of the body, or to make it harmonize completely with the background, or to provide obliterative shading. |
4. Mus. To add notes, usually of lower pitch, to the notes of (a melody) so as to form chords; to add harmony to. Also absol.
| 1790 (title) Songs Composed by Mrs. Hodges. Harmonised and Published by Mr. Hullmandel. 1875 Ouseley Harmony iv. 57 Take these three notes as a melody to be harmonized. 1875 ― Mus. Form ii. 4 Any man may learn how to harmonise correctly. |
Hence ˈharmonized ppl. a.; ˈharmonizing vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1643 Lightfoot Glean. Ex. (1648) 23 The serious Harmonizing of the foure Evangelists together..will make this..cleare. 1789 W. Gilpin Wye (ed. 2) 61 Fogs..spreading over the landscape a beautiful, grey harmonizing tint. 1871 Freeman Hist. Ess. Ser. i. iv. 86 A harmonized narrative of the martyrdom. 1872 Daily Tel. 11 Jan., The harmonising of labour and capital. |