accompaniment

[uh-kuhm-puh-ni-muhnt, uh-kuhmp-ni-]

noun

1. something incidental or added for ornament, symmetry, etc.

2. Music.,  a part in a composition designed to serve as background and support for more important parts.

accompaniment

/ əˈkʌmpnɪ-, əˈkʌmpənɪmənt /

noun

1. something that accompanies or is served or used with something else

2. something inessential or subsidiary that is added, as for ornament or symmetry

3. music a subordinate part for an instrument, voices, or an orchestra

Other Word Forms

• nonaccompaniment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of accompaniment¹

First recorded in 1725–35; accompany + -ment

Example Sentences

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.

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Its age, Riese suggests, makes it a perfect accompaniment to steak.

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The documentaries provide visual accompaniment to the vivid writing coursing through “Last Rites,” which kicks off in 2018, when Osbourne’s medical troubles begin.

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Sitting down at the keys, she's finally at peace, playing the heartfelt ballads A Million Reasons and Die With A Smile, without the accompaniment of her band.

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They come out twice, for Viva La Vida and feelslikeimfallinginlove, twirling their cellos and jumping up and down as they provide the stirring string accompaniment.

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