accompaniment
Americannoun
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something incidental or added for ornament, symmetry, etc.
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Music. a part in a composition designed to serve as background and support for more important parts.
noun
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something that accompanies or is served or used with something else
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something inessential or subsidiary that is added, as for ornament or symmetry
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music a subordinate part for an instrument, voices, or an orchestra
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of accompaniment
Explanation
If your menu tonight consists of grilled pork and savory apples, then the pork is the main item and the apples are the accompaniment, meaning they complement the main dish. The noun accompaniment entered English in the eighteenth century and originally was used in a musical sense to describe a part in a song that supports or acts as background for another more prominent part. Its meaning later expanded to include not only musical assistance but other things that completes or make better the main thing. You’ll often hear it used to describe a food that supports the main item on a plate.
Vocabulary lists containing accompaniment
Fahrenheit 451
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Prisoner B-3087
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Music - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Although nowadays, it comes without the accompaniment of multi-million pound artworks.
From BBC • Mar. 15, 2026
It’s the perfect accompaniment to the sight of Harper and Yasmin, dancing together at a club, relieved to have waved the white flag, at least for tonight.
From Salon • Mar. 1, 2026
They’ve also allowed people to organize things like court accompaniment, protection for religious services and food drives.
From Salon • Feb. 13, 2026
Together, they are trying to understand why the doxology, always sung “in one way and one way only” suddenly has been “pepped up” with an energetic organ accompaniment.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 21, 2025
Chord symbols also may be used even when an accompaniment is written out, so that performers can read either the chord symbol or the notated music, as they prefer.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
