chord
Noun · VerbOpen English WordNet
Noun (2)chords
- a straight line connecting two points on a curveType of straight line
- a combination of three or more notes that blend harmoniously when sounded togetherType of note, musical noteKinds sforzando, common chord, arpeggio, seventh chord
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: L chorda a gut, a string made of a gut, Gr. χορδή. In the sense of a string or small rope, in general, it is written cord. See Cord.
1. The string of a musical instrument. John Milton
2. Music A combination of tones simultaneously performed, producing more or less perfect harmony, as, the common chord.
3. Geometry A right line uniting the extremities of the arc of a circle or curve.
4. Anatomy A cord. See Cord, noun, 4.
5. Engineering The upper or lower part of a truss, usually horizontal, resisting compression or tension. John Alexander Low Waddell
Accidental, Common, and Vocal chords. See under Accidental, Common, and Vocal. — Chord of an arch. See Illust. of Arch. — Chord of curvature, a chord drawn from any point of a curve, in the circle of curvature for that point. — Scale of chords. See Scale.
To provide with musical chords or strings; to string; to tune.
When Jubal struck the chorded shell.— John Dryden
Even the solitary old pine tree chords his harp.— Beecher.
Music To accord; to harmonize together; as, this note chords with that.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54