▪ I. chord, n.1
(kɔːd)
Also 6 chorde.
[A 16th c. refashioning of cord, corde, n.1, after L. chorda, Gr. χορδή; now restricted to a few special senses. This form is alone found for sense 2 b, and is now always used in senses 2, 4; for the physiological senses (3) usage varies.
Johnson says, When it signifies a rope or string in general, it is written cord: when its primitive signification is preserved, the h is retained.]
† 1. A string or small rope. Now written cord.
| c 1645 Howell Lett. v. 48 [They] tie a great chord about their necks. 1801 Med. Jrnl. V. 523 A cord that passed over the pullies. One of the assistants..pulling at the chord. 1812 Woodhouse Astron. vi. 25 A chord or fine wire with a weight attached. |
2. a. spec. A string of a musical instrument, such as a harp. (Now only poetic; ordinarily string.)
| 1340–1830 [see cord]. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 561 The sound..Was heard, of Harp and Organ, and who moovd Thir stops and chords was seen. 1762 J. Brown Poetry & Mus. v. (1763) 66 The Chords of the Lyre were augmented gradually from four to forty. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. Introd. 92 He swept the sounding chords along. 1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall xvii, Love took up the harp of Life, and smote on all the chords with might. |
| fig. 1756 Gray Progr. Poesy, note, Mr. Mason..has touched the true chords..in some of his Choruses. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Lit. Wks. (Bohn) II. 115 Only once or twice [the best poets] have struck the high chord. |
b. fig. Of the emotions, feelings, etc.: the mind being viewed as a musical instrument of which these are the strings.
| 1784 Cowper Task vi. 4 Some chord in unison with what we hear Is touch'd within us. 1830 Scott Monast. Introd. Ep., I had touched somewhat rudely upon a chord which seldom ceased to vibrate. 1869 Lecky Europ. Mor. I. iii. 414 It struck alike the coarsest chords of hope and fear, and the finest chords of compassion. |
3. Phys. Applied to structures in an animal body resembling strings. † a. A tendon; = cord n. 2 a. Obs.
| 1541–1601 [see cord.] 1543 Traheron Vigo's Chirurg. i. i. 2 A chorde groweth oute of a muscle, and is compounded of synnowie matter, and of pellicles. 1578 Banister Hist. Man iv. 44 The endes of Muscles are in tendons, or as we commonly say, chordes. |
b. Applied to various structures; esp. the vocal chords, spermatic chord, spinal chord, and umbilical chord (see vocal, etc.). The last-named is now commonly cord, the second and third often so.
| 1783 P. Pott Chirurg. Wks. II. 472 The spermatic chord. 1804 Abernethy Surg. Obs. 53 The spermatic chord was thickened. 1807 Med. Jrnl. XVII. 352 The vessels of the umbilical chord. 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. II. 74 Shell bivalve, adhering to marine bodies..by means of a tendinous chord. 1866 Huxley Phys. vii. (1869) 203 According as the vocal chords are relaxed or tightened. 1878 Bell Gegenbauer's Comp. Anat. 25 Chords or tracts of cells. 1880 Gunther Fishes 51 To protect the spinal chord. |
4. Math. The straight line joining the extremities of an arc.
| [1551 Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. Defin., If the line goe crosse the circle, and passe beside the centre, then is it called a corde, or a stryngline.] 1570 Billingsley Euclid iii. Introd. 81 The knowledge of chordes and arkes. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. ii. (ed. 7) 102 A Chord is a right line drawne from one end of the Arch to the other end thereof. 1726 tr. Gregory's Astron. I. 509 Instead of the Chords the Arcs themselves..may be taken. 1836 Thirlwall Greece III. xx. 146 The old wall, which was the chord of the arc. 1849 Freeman Archit. 155 The altar was placed..on the chord of the apse. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. §25. 185. |
5. Engin. Each of the two principal members, usually horizontal, of a truss (see also quot. 1940).
| a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. III. 2638/2 Rider's [truss⁓bridge]..is composed of an upper and a lower chord,—the former of cast, and the latter of wrought, iron. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 160/1 Chord, a flange of a large girder. |
6. In an aeroplane, a straight line passing through the lower curve of an aerofoil section at two points; hence, the dimension of an aerofoil from the leading edge to the trailing edge (the width of the wings as distinguished from ‘span’ or lateral spread). Also attrib.
| [1909 A. Berget Conquest of Air iv. 188 When the apparatus is in flight, the ‘chord’ of the arc formed by the profile of the wings makes an angle varying from 6 to 8 degrees with the horizon.] 1918 E. M. Roberts Flying Fighter 334 Chord, the width of wings. 1920 All the World's Aircraft 123 a, Specification of the Westland ‘Limousine’. Length overall, 28 ft. 6 in.; Span, 38 ft. 2 in.; Chord, 6 ft. 3 in. 1923 Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics V. 19/2 The ratio of the span to the chord gives the Aspect Ratio of the wing. 1933 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXVII. 448 A sketch and photographs show the method of increasing the surface by increasing the chord width along about two-thirds of the span. 1934 Ibid. XXXVIII. 585 Fig. 11 Shows two Town⁓end Rings of identical section, chord length, and chord angle. 1968 Jane's Surface Skimmer Systems 1967–68 12/1 This ram-wing research vehicle..consists basically of a rectangular wing of constant chord. |
▪ II. chord, n.2
(kɔːd)
Forms: 6 corde, 6–8 cord, 7 chorde, 8– chord.
[Orig. cord, aphetic form of accord n., q.v.; the 17th c. spelling chord arose from confusion with prec.: cf. the following.
1741 Chambers Cycl., Chord is also used in musick, for the note, or string to be touched or sounded: in which sense, it is applicable to all the intervals of musick.]
† 1. = accord n. 4; Agreement of musical sounds; pl. sounds in agreement, harmonies, strains. Obs.
| ? c 1475 Sqr. lowe Degre 1077 With dulcet pipes of many cordes. 1592 Greene Art Conny Catch. ii. 10 The Syrens..sound out most heauenly melodie in such pleasing cords. 1636 Healey Theophrast. xix. 70 When he heareth any Fidlers, he cannot hold but keepe time, and with a kind of mimicall gesticulation..imitate their chordes. |
† 2. Mus. a. A combination of two ‘according’ or harmonious notes sounded together, a concord. b. pl. The notes added to a bass to make up a harmony or ‘chord’ in the mod. sense (see 3). Obs.
| 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. ii. 71 Phi. What is a Concord? Ma. It is a mixt sound..entring with delight in the eare, and is eyther perfect or vnperfect..a vnison, a fift, an eight..be perfect cordes [1608 chordes.] 1674 Playford Skill Mus. i. vi. 23 Perfect Cords are these, a Fifth, an Eighth, with their Compounds..Imperfect Cords are these, a Third, a Sixth, with their Compounds. 1731 Pepusch Treat. Harmony i, The Unison, the Fifth, the Fourth, and the octave of the key..require the Common Cords, that is to say, their 3{supd}, 5{supt}{suph}, and 8{supt}{suph} for their Harmony or Accompaniments..The Third, and the Sixth..require the Uncommon Cords for their Harmony, that is to say, their 3{supd}, 6{supt}{suph} and 8{supt}{suph}. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Chord is sometimes..used for accord. Thus we say the common chords to such a bass note, meaning its third, fifth, and octave. |
3. Mus. a. A combination, concordant or discordant, of three or more simultaneous notes according to the rules of harmony; rarely of two notes only.
common chord (also perfect chord): the combination of any note with its third (major or minor), perfect fifth, and octave. Chord is often used alone for common chord, e.g. ‘the chord of C’.
| 1752 tr. Rameau's Treat. Mus. iii, A chord is the disposition of several Sounds heard together..the perfect [chord]..is composed of one note placed in the Bass, and of its Third, Fifth, and Octave. 1782 Burney Hist. Mus. II. ii. 111 Many of the bases..begin with the chord of C inverted. 1864 Browning Abt Vogler xii, Give me the keys. I feel for the common chord again. 1868 F. A. G. Ouseley Harmony 10 A chord is the simultaneous sounding of several different notes, selected according to fixed principles and rules. c 1870 A. A. Procter Leg. & Lyrics, Lost Chord, I have sought, but I seek it vainly, That one lost chord divine. 1875 Blaserna Theory of Sound vi. (1883) 102 The above chord is the most consonant that exists in music, and it is therefore called the perfect chord. |
b. To break or spread a chord: to play the notes in succession instead of simultaneously.
| 1879 F. Taylor in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 87/1 Arpeggio..in pianoforte music, the breaking or spreading of a chord, upwards or downwards. Ibid. 88/1 In this case the order of breaking the chord..is left to the taste of the performer. |
c. attrib.
| 1947 A. Einstein Mus. in Romantic Era xi. 137 Often there are effects almost exclusively of sonority and resonance, willfully interjected chord-clusters, that play a decisive part. 1962 J. Wain Strike Father Dead v. 211 Inventive jazz..played on the familiar chord progressions. 1963 Radio Times 11 Apr. 30 Extemporising on a chord sequence may..be reaching its limits. 1966 Crescendo July 13/2 Quality material, a song with more than three chord changes. |
4. transf. A harmonious combination of colours.
| 1856 Ruskin Mod. Paint. IV. v. iii. 52 The sacred chord of colour (blue, purple, and scarlet, with white and gold) as appointed in the Tabernacle. Ibid. V. ix. xi. 322 The peculiar innovation of Turner was the perfection of the colour chord by means of scarlet. 1875 tr. Vogel's Chem. Light vii. 59 The larger scale of colour of the painter consists not of simple tones, but of what may be called chords of colour. |
▪ III. chord, v.1 rare.
[f. prec. n.: perh. a survival of cord v.1 short for accord.]
intr. To accord musically; to form a chord (with); to harmonize.
| 1866 [implied in chording vbl. n.]. a 1889 Mod. colloq. It does not chord well with the other. |
▪ IV. chord, v.2
see cord v.2