Etymology

chord

C3H4O1R1D2

Today it means: A harmonic set of three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. Full definition →

Ancient Greek χορδή
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromχορδή“string of gut, the string of a lyre”
  2. English todaychord

Variant of cord, with spelling alteration due to Latin chorda (“cord”), ultimately from Ancient Greek χορδή (khordḗ, “string of gut, the string of a lyre”). No relation to French accord (“chord”) and its derivations. Doublet of cuerda.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekχορδή all →

cordchordee

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.