coda

[ koh-duh ]

/ ˈkoʊ də /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR coda ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Music. a more or less independent passage, at the end of a composition, introduced to bring it to a satisfactory close.

Ballet. the concluding section of a ballet, especially the final part of a pas de deux.

a concluding section or part, especially one of a conventional form and serving as a summation of preceding themes, motifs, etc., as in a work of literature or drama.

anything that serves as a concluding part.

Phonetics. the segment of a syllable following the nucleus, as the d-sound in good.Compare core¹(def 14), onset(def 3).

Nearby words

cod end, cod war, cod-act, cod-liver oil, cod., coda, codder, coddle, code, code blue, code book

Origin of coda

1745–55; < Italian < Latin cauda tail; cf. queue

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for coda

Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you haven't seen season five episode eight of The Walking Dead, “Coda”
Norman Reedus on Motorcycles, Multitasking, And That Mid-Season Finale: “This Was A Rough One”|Oliver Jones|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The scene serves as the coda to The Last of the Unjust, and it ranks as one of the most splendid closing sequences in cinema.
Confessions of a Death Camp Collaborator: Claude Lanzmann’s ‘The Last of the Unjust’|Jimmy So|February 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And then the joke in the last verse of watching Walter Cronkite deliver the coda.
Overrated/Underrated: I Do/Don't Believe in Zimmerman|Michael Tomasky|May 24, 2012|DAILY BEAST
It has also, sadly, turned out to be the coda for its director's career.
Kevin Spacey on Casino Jack|Kevin Sessums|December 14, 2010|DAILY BEAST

The film, opening on December 17, has turned out to be a coda to the man's incarceration.
Kevin Spacey on Casino Jack|Kevin Sessums|December 14, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Finally, a new and important climax is introduced in the coda by the opposition of the two chief subjects.
Life Of Mozart, Vol. 1 (of 3)|Otto Jahn
He tapped for the coda with the touch of a king knighting an illustrious subject.
Nights in London|Thomas Burke
The rest of the Coda is a scene of jubilation with ever more life and light.
Music: An Art and a Language|Walter Raymond Spalding
One of his largest works is a concert waltz, "Mi-Carême," for two pianos, with elaborate and extended introduction and coda.
Contemporary American Composers|Rupert Hughes
The remaining twenty-two bars give the first section in condensed form: first and second subjects and coda.
The Pianoforte Sonata|J.S. Shedlock

British Dictionary definitions for coda

coda

/ (ˈkəʊdə) /

noun

music the final, sometimes inessential, part of a musical structure

a concluding part of a literary work, esp a summary at the end of a novel of further developments in the lives of the characters

Word Origin for coda

C18: from Italian: tail, from Latin cauda

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Culture definitions for coda

coda

An ending to a piece of music, standing outside the formal structure of the piece. Coda is the Italian word for “tail.”