Forms: 4–5 coorde, 4–7 corde, 6 coarde, 7–8 coard, 4– cord. See also CHORD sb.1 [a. F. corde string of a musical instrument, string, rope, cord:—L. chorda, ad. Gr. χορδή gut, string of a musical instrument (made of gut). The later refashioning CHORD, q.v., is now restricted to a few special senses.]
1. A string composed of several strands twisted or woven together; in ordinary popular use, now restricted to small ropes, and thick or stout strings; but formerly applied more widely, e.g., to the ropes of a ship, the string of a bow, etc. Cf. also whip-cord, welting-cord, and quot. 1835. Also applied to strands of wire twisted or woven together.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 21256 (Cott.). Abute his hals a cord þai fest, And tilward prison drogh.
c. 1305. St. Andrew, in E. E. P. (1862), 100. Bynde him honde and fet … Wiþ stronge corden.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 2012. Þai kairen to þe cordis, knitten vp þe saile.
c. 1477. Caxton, Jason, 42 b. Saye no more that I take two cordes or strenges on my bowe. Ibid. (1483), Gold. Leg., 160/2. They hewe the cordes of the shyppe.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, xlvi. 154. There was no cord but it was of gold and sylke.
1535. Coverdale, Judges xvi. 11. Yf they bounde me with new coardes.
1611. Bible, John ii. 15. And when he had made a scourge of small cordes, he droue them all out of the Temple.
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 444, ¶ 4. A Twine-Cord, strained with two Nails at each End.
1812–6. Playfair, Nat. Phil. (1819), I. 85. The pulley is a wheel moveable on an axis with a groove cut in its circumference, round which a cord passes.
1835. Ure, Philos. Manuf., 94. Turkey [silk] has a flaxen appearance, and consists of ten ultimate filaments, which form a cord of 1/333 of an inch.
1872. Morley, Voltaire (1886), 344. Wearing the cord of Saint Francis.
b. A rope for hanging; the hangman’s rope.
c. 1330. Arth. & Merl., 1141 (Mätz.). Thei ye me hong bi a cord.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 2485, Phillis. She was her owne deeth right with a corde.
1483. Caxton, Cato, C j. Yf he had the corde aboute hys necke for to be hanged.
1604. Shaks., Oth., III. iii. 388. If there be Cords, or Kniues, Poyson, or Fire.
1670. G. H., Hist. Cardinals, I. I. 7. They will soon create you a Knight of the Hempen Cord.
1814. Scott, Ld. of Isles, II. xiii. Left his men to brand and cord.
1886. Morley, Crit. Misc., I. 44. Robespierre had the typic sacerdotal temperament … its private leanings to the stake and the cord.
c. pl. The ropes inclosing that part of a race-course, near the winning-post, where the spectators stand; the part inclosed by them.
1787–91. ‘G. Gambado,’ Acad. Horsem. (1809), 113. Just as they [horses] enter’d the cords, they were both at laps. Ibid., 114. Whilst new wagers echoed from the Betting Gap and cords every moment.
1879. Daily News, 16 April, 2/3. This order was maintained until inside the cords, when Leghorn was beaten.
d. transf.
1875. Ure, Dict. Arts, II. 244. The electrical cord in this cable is composed of 7 small wires twisted together and insulated by a thick layer of gutta-percha.
e. (without a and pl.) As a material.
1875. Gwilt, Arch., § 2260. Newall’s patent copper wire cord … extensively used for window sash line … picture cord, clock cord,… &c.
1881. Jefferies, Wood Magic, I. iii. 73. The end of Pan’s chain … was not of iron, but tar-cord.
1882. [see Cord-work in 12].
Mod. A piece of stout cord.
¶ Literal rendering of L. funiculus in the Vulgate (Heb. [Hebrew] cord, measuring-line, tract, region).
1382. Wyclif, Ezek. xlvii. 13. For Joseph hath double coord, or part.
1609. Bible (Douay), Zeph. ii. 5. Wo to you that inhabite the cord of the sea.
2. Anat. A structure in the animal body resembling a cord.
† a. Formerly used to render L. nervus, Gr. νεῦρον, applied both to the tendons or sinews and to the nerves. (Cf. NERVE.)
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 24. A corde … comeþ from þe brayne eiþer from þe nucha. From þe brayn comen vij. peire cordes & þei ben cleped sensible senewis. Ibid., 29. Þat þat is maad of þis nerf & þis ligament is cleped a corde.
1541. R. Copland, Guydon’s Quest. Chirurg. From it [the muscle] discendeth rounde strynges and cordes that cometh nygh to the ioyntes.
1601. Holland, Pliny, I. 345. Sinews, Cords, and Ligaments.
b. Now applied generally to a nerve trunk, and spec. to certain structures, esp. the spermatic, spinal and umbilical cord, the vocal cords; see these words.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), VIII. 15. [The intestines of a caterpillar are] strengthened on both sides by a fleshy cord, by which they are united.
1830. R. Knox, Béclard’s Anat., 20. A nervous ring … from which proceed two cords running along the whole length of the body.
1842. E. Wilson, Anat. Vade M., 550. The Spermatic Cord is the medium of communication between the testes and the interior of the abdomen.
1851. Carpenter, Man. Phys. (ed. 2), 540. The thickness of the Spinal Cord differs considerably at its different parts.
1855. Ramsbotham, Obstetr. Med., 79. The … Umbilical Cord, or Navel String, is a rope-like cord running from the navel of the child into the body of the placenta.
¶ In the following passage app. applied to a supposed vital fiber or ligament (cf. HEART-STRING), with a fig. reference to the string of a musical instrument (sense 4).
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., III. ii. 106. I would ’twere something yt would fret the string, The Master-cord on’s heart.
3. A part of a plant with a cord-like appearance or function.
1776. Withering, Brit. Plants (1796), I. 367. An elastic Cord taken out of the ripe Capsule.
1866. Treas. Bot., Umbilical cord, a thread by which seeds are sometimes attached to their placenta.
† 4. string of a musical instrument; now written CHORD, q.v.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter cxliii. 10. In psawtry of ten cordis til þe sall I synge.
1382. Wyclif, Ps. cl. 4. Preise ȝee hym in cordis and orgne.
[1820. Shelley, trans. Homer’s Hymn to Mercury, viii. Symphonious cords of sheep-gut rhythmical.]
1830. ‘Juan De Vega’ [C. Cochrane], Jrnl. Tour, ii. (1847), 10. One of the young ladies … examining my guitar, lightly touched the cords with her fingers.
† 5. Math. A straight line joining the extremities of an arc; now written CHORD.
1551. Recorde [see CHORD sb.1 4].
6. Farriery. (Usually pl.) A disease affecting the sinews of a horse; string-halt. ? Obs.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 92. The cordes is a thynge that wyll make a horse to stumble … and appereth before the forther legges.
a. 1605. Montgomerie, Flyting, 301. The cords and the cout-euill, the claisps and the cleiks.
1616. Surfl. & Markh., Country Farme, 147. If your Horse be troubled with the Cords, take a corued [? cornet] made of the brow-antler of an old Stagges horne, and thrust it under the Cord, and twynd it ten or twelue times about … then cut the Cord asunder.
1702. Lond. Gaz., No. 3855/4. A brown-bay Horse … two small Knots on his Nose which was cut for the Cords.
7. a. Arch. The semicircular nosing or projection of a string-course. b. Glass Manuf.
1776. G. Semple, Building in Water, 137. The Plinth and Cord.
1807. T. Thomson, Chem. (ed. 3), II. 513. Cords. These are asperities on the surface of the glass, in consequence of too little heat.
8. A raised cord-like rib on the surface of cloth; a ribbed fabric, esp. corduroy; ellipt. in pl. corduroy breeches or trousers.
1776. Specif. of Woostenholme’s Patent, No. 1123. 3. Velveteen cords are made of the same materials.
1795. Aikin, Country Round Manchester, 163. The fustian trade has also been improved by the addition of … strong and fancy cords.
1837. T. Hook, Jack Brag, i. Our sprightly gentleman in the scarlet jacket and white cords.
1843. Lever, J. Hinton, vii. A green coat of jockey cut, a buff waistcoat, white cords.
1875. Ure, Dict. Arts, II. 527. Cantoon is a fustian with a fine cord visible upon the one side, and a satiny surface of yarns running at right angles to the cords upon the other side. Ibid. An example of king’s cord or corduroy, and of Dutch cord.
9. A measure of cut wood, esp. that used for fuel (prob. so called because originally measured with a cord): a pile of wood, most frequently 8 feet long, 4 feet broad, and 4 feet high, but varying in different localities.
1616. Sir R. Boyle, Diary (1886), I. 112. 20 cordes of olde woode.
1677. Yarranton, Eng. Improv., 61. A Tun and three quarters of Timber will but make one Coard of Wood.
1725. Lond. Gaz., No. 6447/4. Which Stacks or Piles of Wood did contain about Thirteen Coards.
1804. Nelson, in Nicolas, Disp. (1845), V. 437. Commissioned to procure ten chords of wood for the Victory.
1817–8. Cobbett, Resid. U.S. (1822), 266. 2 dollars a cord for Hickory; a cord is 8 feet by 4, and 4 deep.
1874. J. Deady, in Law Times Rep., XXXI. 231/2. The loss of the John Francis, and her cargo of eighty cords of ash wood.
b. A measure of stone or rock.
1703. T. N., City & C. Purchaser, 256. In some parts of Kent, Stones are sold by the Cord, consisting of 27 solid Feet.
1882. Kentish Express, 1 July, 1/1. Tenders … for digging 300 cord of rock, at Kick-hill … near Hythe.
10. Weaving. One of the strings that connect the leaves with the treadles in a pattern-weaving loom (or the neck or harness twines to the hooks in a jacquard loom); also, the space of the design-paper confined by two vertical lines and representing one of the threads of the warp.
1875. Ure, Dict. Arts, III. 982. Upon the design-paper … the dots … denote raising cords, the blanks, sinking cords.
11. fig. a. With reference to the binding or confining power of a cord. Chiefly in scriptural language, or expressions derived from it.
1382. Wyclif, Job xxxvi. 8. If thei shul … ben bounde with cordis of porenesse. Ibid., Prov. v. 22. With the cordis of his synnes he is togidere streyned.
1535. Coverdale, Hos. xi. 4. I led them with coardes of frendshipe.
a. 1600. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., VI. vi. § 8 (1666), 362. The Wicked shall be held fast in the cords of his own sin.
1667. Poole, Dial. betw. Protest. & Papist, 59. Here is a fourfold cord, which you will find is not easily broken.
1852. Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., II. xxvi. 109. Those mysterious intimations which the soul feels, as the cords begin to unbind, ere it leaves its clay forever.
1883. Stevenson, Treasure Isl., III. xiii. 104. The very sight of the island had relaxed the cords of discipline.
b. A ‘thread’ that runs through and unites the parts of anything.
1848. S. C. Bartlett, Egypt to Pal., i. (1879), 13–4. Through all the diverse and multitudinous sights of Europe, there is found one central historic cord running up to antiquity.
12. Comb., as cord-maker, -net; cord-bound, -like, -shaped adjs.; cord-drill, a drill worked by a cord twisted round it and pulled backwards and forwards; cord-grass, a modern name for Spartina stricta (erroneously attributed to Turner, who called it Frail-bente); cord-leaf, a name given by Lindley to plants of the N. O. Restiaceæ (Treas. Bot.); cord-moss, ‘the genus Funaria’ (Miller, Plant-n.); cord-reel, a reel on which cord is wound; cord-rooted a., having roots like cords; cord-winder, one who makes cords or ropes; † cord-wise adv., in the manner of a cord; cord-work (see quot.). See also CORD-WOOD.
1834. F. Wrangham, Homerics, 11. The *cord-bound raft.
1865. Tylor, Early Hist. Man., ix. 241. The Brahmans still use a *cord-drill in producing the sacred fire.
1861. Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., VI. 51. *Cord-grass.
1884. Miller, Plant-n., Spartina stricta, Common Cord-grass, Mat-weed, Spart-grass, Twin-spiked Cord-grass.
1845. Lindley, Veget. Kingd. (1853), 105. The *Cord-leafs (Restiaceæ).
1611. Cotgr., Cordeleux, cordie, *cord-like.
1809. Med. Jrnl., XXI. 423. The inflammation crept gradually up the vein, which was evident from its peculiar cord-like feel.
1580. North, Plutarch (1676), 138. *Cord-makers, Sadlers, Coller-makers.
1630. in Binnell, Descr. Thames (1758), 65. Any Draw-Net, *Cord-Net, or other Net.
1616. Surfl. & Markh., Country Farme, 255. Many measures of small cord … many *cord-reeles.
1890. Nature, 17 April, 557. *Cord-rooted grasses.
1846. Ellis, Elgin Marbles, II. 120. A *cord-shaped diadem round the hair.
1707. Lond. Gaz., No. 4362/4. Lancelot Bowler … *Cordwinder.
1541. R. Copland, Guydon’s Quest. Chirurg. They waxe rounde in *cordewyse.
1882. Dict. Needlework, *Cord Work … is a kind of coarse needle lace executed with black or coloured purse silks, fine bobbin cord, or strong linen thread.
