Etymology

tetrachord

T1E1T1R1A1C3H4O1R1D2

Today it means: Any set of four different pitch classes. Full definition →

English chord ← Ancient Greek τετρᾰ- (tetră-) ← Proto-Hellenic *kʷétwores
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷetwóres
  2. Proto-Hellenic*kʷétwores
  3. Ancient Greekτέσσᾰρες (téssăres)
  4. Ancient Greekτετρᾰ- (tetră-)
  5. Englishtetra-
  6. Englishchord
  7. English todaytetrachord

From tetra- + chord.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.