dissonance
(ˈdɪsənəns)
[ad. L. dissonāntia dissonance, discrepancy, f. dissonānt-em dissonant: see -ance. Cf. F. dissonance (14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.)]
1. The quality or fact of being dissonant; an inharmonious or harsh sound or combination of sounds; = discord 3 a, 4. spec. in Music, A combination of tones causing beats (cf. beat n.1 8), and thus producing a harsh effect; also, a note which in combination with others produces this effect.
| 1597–8 Bp. Hall Sat. Postscr., The Tralation of one of Persius his Satyrs into English, the difficultie and dissonance wherof shall make good my assertion. 1634 Milton Comus 548 The..roar..filled the air with barbarous dissonance. 1660 tr. Amyraldus' Treat. conc. Relig. i. vii. 123 Making false Musick and committing dissonances. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 29 ¶7 What is Harmony to one Ear, may be Dissonance to another. 1739 W. Melmoth Fitzosb. Lett. (1763) 64 The harshness and dissonance of so unharmonious a sentence. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc vi. 180 With all the dissonance of boisterous mirth. 1875 Ouseley Harmony viii. 95 The intruded new sound..is called a Dissonance. The chord in which the Dissonance is heard, is called a Discord. 1881 Broadhouse Mus. Acoustics 301 The various degrees of dissonance are produced by beats. |
| fig. 1875 Hamerton Intell. Life v. vi. 196 Your shooting-coat, which was in tune upon the moors, is a dissonance amongst ladies in full dress. |
2. Want of concord or harmony (between things); disagreement, incongruity;
= discord 2.
| 1571 Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1633) 47 To reconcile the dissonance of varying writers. 1735 Berkeley Def. Free-th. in Math. §43 The greatest dissonance, and even contrariety of opinions. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xlvii. (1828) IV. 381 This puzzling variation and dissonance between the different tribes. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sc. (1879) I. iii. 83 The molecules..are in dissonance with the luminous rays. |