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• harmonist
  harmonist

  noun

  a person skilled in harmony.
• Harmonist
  Harmonist

  noun

  a member of a celibate religious sect that emigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania in 1803.

harmonist

¹ American  

[hahr-muh-nist] / ˈhɑr mə nɪst /

noun

1. a person skilled in harmony.

2. a person who makes a harmony, as of the Gospels.

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Harmonist ² American  

[hahr-muh-nist] / ˈhɑr mə nɪst /

Or Harmonite

noun

1. a member of a celibate religious sect that emigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania in 1803.

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harmonist British  

/ ˈhɑːmənɪst /

noun

1. a person skilled in the art and techniques of harmony

2. a person who combines and collates parallel narratives

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Other Word Forms

• harmonistic
  adjective
• harmonistically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of harmonist¹

First recorded in 1560–70; harmon(y) + -ist

Origin of Harmonist²

1815–25; after Harmony, town in Pennsylvania; see -ist

Explanation

A harmonist is someone who's very good at blending different voices or instruments into music that sounds pleasant. To be a successful composer, you have to be a great harmonist. Harmonists are skilled at harmonies, creating music from separate strands that go well together. Another kind of harmonist does a similar thing with literature or religious texts, interpreting different passages in a way that melds their meanings or finds agreement between them. Historically, Christian harmonists also brought harmony to the Bible by trying to arrange its parts in chronological order. The Greek root of harmonist is harmonia, "concord of sound."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

harmonist Harmonist

Mr. Jobim once called him “a great melodist, harmonist, king of rhythm, of syncopation, of swing” and “singular, without equal.”

From New York Times ● Dec. 23, 2023

Above all, Mr. Sondheim said, he is a harmonist whose songs are inspired by theatrical characters.

From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2015

Throughout the vibrant Scherzo, the plaintive Adagio and the episodic and ultimately exuberant finale, Mr. Gilbert brought out musical resonances that linked Rachmaninoff as a harmonist to Debussy, Mahler and even early Schoenberg.

From New York Times ● Jan. 9, 2010

There are few if any of Weber's melodies which are notable for creative power, and as a harmonist he was lamentably weak.

From Music: An Art and a Language by Walter Raymond Spalding

The jolly Englishman had sent this harmonist to Victor with the card: "The bearer of this is the bearer of an echo which he carries in his pocket."

From Hesperus or Forty-Five Dog-Post-Days Vol. II A Biography by Jean Paul

If you’re looking to support a worthy cause and restock your fragrance wardrobe, check out an upcoming event at Melrose Place perfume boutique the Harmonist in Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2018

The Harmonist is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2016

Over the course of the next three years Van Aken will graft varieties of fruit from the Harmonist community days for a total of 40 fruits.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 8, 2016

Huffman sent some of his letters to his brother-in-law, John Burns White, who was married to Huffman’s sister, Ellie, and was the business agent for the Harmonist Society in Beaver County.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 7, 2015

Hardly less ancient, and indeed ascribed by some to Tatian the Harmonist, the disciple of Justin Martyr, is the division of the Gospels into larger chapters or κεφάλαια majora64.

From A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, Vol. I. by Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener