▪ I. discord, n.
(ˈdɪskɔːd)
Also 3–4 des-, 4–5 dys-.
[ME. des-, discord, a. OF. descord, descort (12th c.), discord, -cort (14–15th c.), vbl. n. f. descorder: see discord v. (OF. had also des-, discorde (ad. L. discordia), whence perh. ME. spelling discorde.]
1. Absence of concord or harmony (between persons); disagreement of opinions and aims; variance, dissension, strife.
apple of discord: see apple n. 5.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 196 Vor July Cesar yt nom vorst..Þoru descord & contek, þat bytuene or elderne vas þo. a 1300 Cursor M. 22223 (Cott.) Bot if dissenciun bi-tide,..þat es..discord and strijf. 1340 Ayenb. 43 Þe zenne of ham þet zaweþ discord. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 38 Thei weren at gret Discord, for to make a Soudan. 1535 Coverdale Prov. xv. 18 An angrie man stirreth vp strife, but he y{supt} is pacient stilleth discorde. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. Vl, v. v. 63 For what is wedlocke forced? but a Hell, An Age of discord and continuall strife. 1632 Lithgow Trav. viii. 354 These two Barones were at great discord, about the love of a young Noble woman. 1779–81 Johnson L.P., Fenton, Men who at that time of discord and debate consulted conscience..more than interest. 1859 Kingsley Misc. (1860) I. 13 Trying to sow discord between man and man, class and class. |
b. personified.
| 1667 Milton P.L. x. 707 Discord first, Daughter of Sin, among th' irrational, Death introduced. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 482 Fell Discord, arbitress of such debate. 1832 Tennyson Love thou thy Land 68 Regard gradation, lest the Soul Of Discord race the rising wind. |
2. Want of agreement or harmony (between things); diversity, difference.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 35 (Mätz.) Þis seventy..translated þe lawe wiþoute discorde of wordes oþer of menynge. 1520 Caxton's Chron. Eng. iv. 37/1 For the dyscorde of the paschal tyme he called a counsell in Alexander. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 60 Merry and tragicall..How shall wee finde the concord of this discord? 1608–11 Bp. Hall Medit. & Vowes ii. §49 Nothing makes so strong and mortall hostility, as discord in religions. 1732 Pope Ess. Man i. 291 All Nature is but Art, unknown to thee..All Discord, Harmony not understood. a 1806 Bp. Horsley Serm. III. xxxix. (R.), The discordance of these errors is mistaken for a discord of the truths on which they are severally grafted. 1882–3 Schaff Encycl. Relig. Knowl. II. 1041/1 The relations of the Church to the government of Baden..were entirely at discord with his own views. |
3. Mus. (The opposite of concord.) a. Disagreement or want of harmony between two or more musical notes sounded together; dissonance. b. A combination of two or more notes not in harmony with each other; a chord which by itself is unpleasing or unsatisfactory to the ear, and requires to be ‘resolved’ or followed by some other chord. c. The interval between two notes forming a discord; any interval except the unison, octave, perfect fifth and fourth, major and minor thirds, and major and minor sixths (and the octaves of these). d. A single note which is dissonant with another, or with the other notes of a chord.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 122/1 Dyscorde yn songe, dissonancia. 1579 E. K. in Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Ep. Ded. §1 Oftentimes a dischorde in Musick maketh a comely concordaunce. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 6 If he, compact of iarres, grow Musicall, We shortly shall haue discord in the Spheares. 1609 Douland Ornith. Microl. 79 A Discord..is the mixture of diuers sounds, naturally offending the eares. 1674 Playford Skill Mus. iii. 1 The Discords are, a Second, Fourth, and Seventh, with their Eighths. 1691–8 Norris Pract. Disc. 229 As in Musick, what is Discord in particular and separately considered, will be Harmony upon the whole. 1795 Mason Ch. Mus. i. 55 An adept..might give his scientific hearers supreme pleasure by his skilful manner of resolving his discords. 1864 Browning Abt Vogler xi, Why rushed the discords in but that harmony should be prized? 1875 Ouseley Harmony viii. 95 The chord in which the dissonance is heard is called a Discord. 1881 Macfarren Counterp. i. 2 A discord is a chord that is unsatisfactory in itself, or it is a note foreign to the prevailing harmony. |
| fig. 1650 B. Discolliminium 46 My harmonious Pulse beats nothing but melodious Discords, to the tune of the Crosse and the Harpe. 1878 J. P. Hopps Jesus viii. 30 He had silenced the discords of passion in his own breast. |
4. Disagreement or want of harmony between sounds; a mingling or clashing of sounds, a confused noise; a harsh or unpleasing sound. (Often with allusion to the musical sense: see prec.)
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iv. i. 123, I neuer heard So musicall a discord, such sweet thunder. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. v. Wks. 1856 I. 67 There remaines no discord that can sound Harsh accents to the eare of our accord. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 209 Arms on Armour clashing bray'd Horrible discord, and the madding Wheeles Of brazen Chariots rag'd. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest v, The bravura of La Motte whose notes sounded discord to his ears. 1835 Lytton Rienzi i. iv, The very sight, the very voice of a Colonna, was a blight to his eye and a discord to his ear. |
5. Comb., as discord-wasted adj.
| 1813 Shelley Q. Mab iv. 79 The discord-wasted land. |
▪ II. † ˈdiscord, a. rare.
[a. F. discord, in 1304 discors (Godef.), ad. L. discors, discord-em discordant, at variance: see next.]
Discordant.
| a 1425 Chaucer's Pars. T. ¶744 [MSS. Lansd., Petw., Selden] Vnmesurable & discorde [other MSS. desordeynee, disordeyned] couetise. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xvi. xiii, For musike doth sette in all unyte The discorde thynges whiche are variable. 1606 G. W[oodcocke] tr. Hist. Ivstine Ep. Ded., In Musicke, manie discord notes and manie tunes make one consent. |
▪ III. discord, v.1
(dɪˈskɔːd)
Also 4–6 dys-.
[a. OF. des-, discorde-r (13th c. in Littré), ad. L. discordāre to be a variance, f. discors, discord- adj. discordant, f. dis- + cor, cord- heart: cf. concord.]
1. intr. Of persons: To disagree, ‘differ’; to be at variance, to quarrel; also, to dissent from.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23640 (Cott.) Þe gode..wit alkin thing sal þire acorde, Þe wicked..wit alkin scaft þai sal discord. a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxix. 6 With þaim þat discordis fra þe charite of halikyrke i held anhede. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 72 Þer ben manye men þat discorden of dietynge of men þat ben woundid. 1494 Fabyan Chron. i. xxv. 18 Here discordyth myn Auctour with some other wryters. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 275 How the Lordis of Scotland discordit at the Huntis. 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles II. iv. 404 The human wil cannot discord from the Divine. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xlv, They discorded with her. 1867 Carlyle in Remin. (1881) II. 124 We discorded commonly on two points. |
2. Of things (chiefly): To be different (from), discordant or inconsistent (with).
| 1388 Wyclif Rom. Jerome's Prol., He wolde shewen the newe to not discorden fro the olde testament. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun 1227 Thire two last preceptes semes to discorde in nothing. 1494 Fabyan Chron. i. lxxv. (R.), Thyse two nacions discorde in maners, but nat in clothing and in fayth. 1608 Hieron Def. Ministers' Reasons Refus. Subscription ii. 166 Not because it accordeth or discordeth with the original. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. v. 484 The party, the views of which were apt to discord with those of the leading members of the government. |
b. Of sounds: To be discordant or dissonant; to jar, clash.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter cl. 4 Acorde, as of sere voicys, noght discordand, is swete sange. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 122/1 Dyscordyn yn sounde, or syngynge, dissono, deliro. 1530 Baret Alv. D 801 To Discord, or disagree in tune. 1626 Bacon Sylva §227 But Sounds do disturb and alter one the other..Sometimes the one jarring or discording with the other and making a confusion. |
† 3. trans. To make discordant. Obs. rare.
| 1599 Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 42 They adventure not to play upon that string..for fear of discording all the rest of their harmonie. a 1627 [see discorded]. |
▪ IV. † disˈcord, v.2 Obs. Farriery.
[f. dis- 7 a + cord n.1]
trans. To replace (the intestine) of an incorded or ruptured horse. So disˈcording vbl. n., the relieving of hernia in this way.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 307 Having so discorded, that is to say, returned the gut into his right place. Ibid., Forget not the next day after his discording to unloosen the list, and to take it away..and at the three weeks end..it were not amisse to geld the stone on that side away, so shall he never be encorded again on that side. |