Forms: 6 corde, 6–8 cord, 7 chorde, 8– chord. [Orig. cord, aphetic form of ACCORD sb., q.v.; the 17th c. spelling chord arose from confusion with prec.: cf. the following.
1741. Chambers, Cycl., Chord is also used in musick, for the note, or string to be touched or sounded: in which sense, it is applicable to all the intervals of musick.]
† 1. = ACCORD sb. 4; Agreement of musical sounds; pl. sounds in agreement, harmonies, strains. Obs.
c. 1475[?]. Sqr. lowe Degre, 1077. With dulcet pipes of many cordes.
1592. Greene, Art Conny Catch., II. 10. The Syrens … sound out most heauenly melodie in such pleasing cords.
1636. Healey, Theophrast., xix. 70. When he heareth any Fidlers, he cannot hold but keepe time, and with a kind of mimicall gesticulation … imitate their chordes.
† 2. Mus. A combination of two ‘according’ or harmonious notes sounded together, a CONCORD. b. pl. The notes added to a bass to make up a harmony or ‘chord’ in the mod. sense (see 3). Obs.
1597. Morley, Introd. Mus., II. 71. Phi. What is a Concord? Ma. It is a mixt sound … entring with delight in the eare, and is eyther perfect or vnperfect … a vnison, a fift, an eight … be perfect cordes [1608 chordes.]
1674. Playford, Skill Mus., I. vi. 20. Perfect Cords are these, a Fifth, an Eighth, with their Compounds or Octaves. Imperfect Cords are these, a Third, a Sixth, with their Compounds.
1731. Pepusch, Treat. Harmony, i. The Unison, the Fifth, the Fourth, and the octave of the key … require the Common Cords, that is to say, their 3d, 5th, and 8th for their Harmony or Accompaniments…. The Third, and the Sixth … require the Uncommon Cords for their Harmony, that is to say, their 3d, 6th and 8th.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., Chord is sometimes … used for accord. Thus we say the common chords to such a bass note, meaning its third, fifth, and octave.
3. Mus. A combination, concordant or discordant, of three or more simultaneous notes according to the rules of harmony; rarely of two notes only.
Common chord (also perfect chord): the combination of any note with its third (major or minor), perfect fifth, and octave. Chord is often used alone for common chord, e.g., ‘the chord of C.’
1752. trans. Rameau’s Treat. Musick, iii. A chord is the disposition of several Sounds heard together … the perfect [chord] … is composed of one note placed in the Bass, and of its Third, Fifth, and Octave.
1782. Burney, Hist. Mus., II. ii. 111. Many of the bases, or accompaniments to the melodies begin with the chord of C inverted.
1864. Browning, Abt Vogler, xii. Give me the keys. I feel for the common chord again.
1868. Sir F. Ouseley, Harmony, 10. A chord is the simultaneous sounding of several different notes, selected according to fixed principles and rules.
c. 1870. Adelaide A. Procter, Leg. & Lyrics, Lost Chord. I have sought, but I seek it vainly, That one lost chord divine.
1875. Blaserna, Theory of Sound, vi. (1883), 102. The above chord is the most consonant that exists in music, and it is therefore called the perfect chord.
b. To break or spread a chord: to play the notes in succession instead of simultaneously.
1879. F. Taylor, in Grove, Dict. Mus., I. 87/1. Arpeggio.… In pianoforte music, the breaking or spreading of a chord, either upwards or downwards. Ibid., 88/1. In this case the order of breaking the chord … is left to the taste of the performer.
4. transf. A harmonious combination of colors.
1856. Ruskin, Mod. Paint., IV. V. iii. 52. The sacred chord of colour (blue, purple, and scarlet, with white and gold) as appointed in the Tabernacle. Ibid., V. IX. xi. 322. The peculiar innovation of Turner was the perfection of the colour chord by means of scarlet.
1875. trans. Vogel’s Chem. Light, vii. 59. The larger scale of colour of the painter consists not of simple tones, but of what may be called chords of colour.
