chord
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kɔːd/
enpr: kôrd
ipa: /kɔɹd/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)d
homophone: cord
homophone: cored (horse–hoarse merger)
Forms: form: chords
form: cord
Etymology: 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.
Senses: examples: text: He struck the opening chords of the passage; but this time Irene's voice was silent. Victor stopped in the middle of an arpeggio.
ref: 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 14, in Crime out of Mind:
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A harmonic set of three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously.
examples: text: The simplest method of calculating the radius of a curve in situ is to measure the versine; in railway practice this is done by extending a tape 66 ft. (1 ch.) long in a straight line or chord between two points on the periphery of a curve, and then measuring the maximum distance of the rail from the chord at the centre of the 66 ft. The radius in chains is found by dividing the versine in inches into 99. Thus if a versine measures 3 in., the radius will be 33 ch.
ref: 1941 September, “The Why and the Wherefore: Curves”, in Railway Magazine, page 430:
topics: geometry
mathematics
sciences
glosses: A line segment between two points of a curve.
topics: engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: A horizontal member of a truss.
topics: engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
rail-transport
railways
transport
glosses: A horizontal member of a truss.
A section of subsidiary railway track that interconnects two primary tracks that cross at different levels, to permit traffic to flow between them.
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: The distance between the leading and trailing edge of a wing, measured in the direction of the normal airflow.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: An imaginary line from the luff of a sail to its leech.
examples: text: Ctrl-K is the default first key for chords, but you can create chords using any keys that you want.
ref: 2005, James Avery, Visual Studio hacks, page 99:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: A keyboard shortcut that involves two or more distinct keypresses, such as Ctrl+M followed by P.
examples: text: Instruments that made melodious Chime
Was heard, of Harp and Organ; and who mov'd
Their Stops and Chords was seen
ref: 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
glosses: The string of a musical instrument.
topics: anatomy
medicine
sciences
glosses: A cord.
topics: graph-theory
mathematics
sciences
glosses: An edge that is not part of a cycle but connects two vertices of the cycle.
Derived terms: accidental chord
augmented sixth chord
barre chord
bell chord
bichord
Blackadder chord
broken chord
chop chord
chordal
chord change
chord changes
chordless
chordlike
chordoma
chord organ
chord progression
chordwise
chordwork
cluster chord
common chord
counterchord
cowboy chord
cycle chord
dichord
diminished seventh chord
dominant seventh chord
enneachord
equal-interval chord
French augmented sixth chord
German augmented sixth chord
glasschord
glassichord
half-diminished seventh chord
hexachord
idiochord
Ikisugi chord
Italian augmented sixth chord
major chord
major seventh chord
minor chord
minor seventh chord
mixed-interval chord
multichord
Neapolitan chord
ninth chord
nonchord
notochord
pentachord
perfect chord
polychord
power chord
scare chord
seventh chord
slash chord
strike a chord
subchord
sus chord
suspended chord
tetrachord
touch a chord
trichord
Tristan chord
urochord
vocal chord
Related terms: span