coda
1 Americannoun
-
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.
abbreviation
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
Etymology
Origin of coda1
First recorded in 1745–55; from Italian, from Latin cauda “tail”; queue
Origin of CODA2
First recorded in 1990–95
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.
But now this one act of pure showmanship has become the electrifying coda of Malinin’s programs as he stakes his claim as the greatest figure skater of all time.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026
In a fitting coda, a torrential downpour in the final session -- "the wonderful noise of an Amazon rain," in Correa do Lago's words -- left parts of the carpet soaked.
From Barron's • Nov. 22, 2025
And that’s just one of the things that became the dramatic coda for the Dodgers this postseason.
From Salon • Nov. 2, 2025
If he thought his return to the laboratory would be a placid coda to his career, he was soon proved wrong, by yet another advance in genetic engineering, this one called CRISPR.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 8, 2025
It seemed innocuous, a soft coda to the storm of the morning.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
![]()
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.