Meanings
nounsymphony (countable and uncountable, plural symphonies)
plural symphonies
- countableuncountableAn extended piece of music of sophisticated structure, usually for orchestra.
classical symphony
3 more examples
compose a symphony
full symphony orchestra
The orchestra performed Beethoven’s Fifth symphony.
- countableuncountableentertainmentAn instrumental introduction or termination to a vocal composition.
- countableuncountableHarmony in music or colour, or a harmonious combination of elements.
She described the city at night as a symphony of lights and sounds.
- UScountableinformaluncountableA symphony orchestra.
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱómder.?
- Proto-Indo-European*sem-der.?
- Proto-Hellenic*ksún
- Ancient Greekσύν (sún)
- Ancient Greekσῠν- (sŭn-)
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
- Proto-Hellenic*pʰōnā́
- Ancient Greekφωνή (phōnḗ)
- Ancient Greekσῠ́μφωνος (sŭ́mphōnos)
- Ancient Greekσῠν- (sŭn-)
- Ancient Greekφωνή (phōnḗ)
- Ancient Greekσῠμφωνῐ́ᾱ (sŭmphōnĭ́ā)
- Latinsymphōnia
- Old Frenchsimphonie
- Middle Englishsymphonye
- Englishsymphony
From Middle English symphonye, from Old French simphonie, from Latin symphonia, from Ancient Greek συμφωνία (sumphōnía). By surface analysis, sym- + -phony. Doublet of sinfonia, symphonia, tsampouna, and zampogna.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic سِيمْفُونِيَّة, سِيمْفُونِي
- سِيمْفُونِيَّة (sīmfūniyya)piece of orchestral music
- سِيمْفُونِي (sīmfūnī)piece of orchestral music
Bengali সিম্ফনি
- সিম্ফনি (śimphoni)piece of orchestral music
Bulgarian симфо́ния
- симфо́ния (simfónija)piece of orchestral music
Catalan simfonia
- simfoniapiece of orchestral music
Chinese Cantonese 交響曲 /交响曲
- 交響曲 /交响曲 (gaau¹ hoeng² kuk¹)piece of orchestral music
Chinese Mandarin 交響曲 /交响曲
- 交響曲 /交响曲 (jiāoxiǎngqǔ)piece of orchestral music
Czech symfonie
- symfoniepiece of orchestral music
Danish symfoni
- symfonipiece of orchestral music
Dutch symfonie
- symfoniepiece of orchestral music
Esperanto simfonio
- simfoniopiece of orchestral music
Estonian sümfoonia
- sümfooniapiece of orchestral music
Finnish sinfonia
- sinfoniapiece of orchestral music
French symphonie
- symphoniepiece of orchestral music
German Sinfonie, Symphonie
- Sinfoniepiece of orchestral music
- Symphoniepiece of orchestral music
Greek συμφωνία
- συμφωνία (symfonía)piece of orchestral music
Hebrew סִימפוֹנִיָה
- סִימפוֹנִיָה (simfónya)piece of orchestral music
Hindi सिंफ़नी, सिम्फ़नी
- सिंफ़नी (sĩfanī)piece of orchestral music
- सिम्फ़नी (simfanī)piece of orchestral music
- स्वर की समता (svar kī samtā)piece of orchestral music
Hungarian szimfónia
- szimfóniapiece of orchestral music
Icelandic sinfónía
- sinfóníapiece of orchestral music
Irish siansa
- siansapiece of orchestral music
Italian sinfonia
- sinfoniapiece of orchestral music
Japanese 交響曲
- 交響曲 (kōkyōkyoku)piece of orchestral music
Korean 교향곡, 심포니
- 교향곡 (gyohyanggok)piece of orchestral music
- 심포니 (simponi)piece of orchestral music
Latvian simfonija, simfōnija
- simfonijapiece of orchestral music
- simfōnijapiece of orchestral music
Lithuanian simfonija
- simfonijapiece of orchestral music
Malay simfoni
- simfonipiece of orchestral music
Māori puoro tuatini
- puoro tuatinipiece of orchestral music
Norwegian Bokmål symfoni
- symfonipiece of orchestral music
Persian سمفونی
- سمفونی (samfoni)piece of orchestral music
Polish symfonia
- symfoniapiece of orchestral music
Portuguese sinfonia
- sinfoniapiece of orchestral music
Punjabi ਸਿੰਫਨੀ
- ਸਿੰਫਨੀ (simphnī)piece of orchestral music
Romanian simfonie
- simfoniepiece of orchestral music
Russian симфо́ния
- симфо́ния (simfónija)piece of orchestral music
Slovak symfónia
- symfóniapiece of orchestral music
Spanish sinfonía
- sinfoníapiece of orchestral music
Swedish symfoni
- symfonipiece of orchestral music
Thai ซิมโฟนี
- ซิมโฟนี (sim-foo-nîi)piece of orchestral music
Turkish senfoni
- senfonipiece of orchestral music
Ukrainian симфо́нія
- симфо́нія (symfónija)piece of orchestral music
Urdu ہَم نَوائی, سِمْفَنی
- ہَم نَوائی (ham-navāī)piece of orchestral music
- سِمْفَنی (simfanī)piece of orchestral music
Vietnamese giao hưởng
- giao hưởngpiece of orchestral music
Welsh symffoni
- symffonipiece of orchestral music
Yiddish סימפֿאָניע
- סימפֿאָניע (simfonye)piece of orchestral music
Cite this entry
APA
symphony. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/symphony
MLA
“symphony.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/symphony. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “symphony,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/symphony.
Source: symphony on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.