harmony

American  

[hahr-muh-nee] / ˈhɑr mə ni /

noun

plural

harmonies

1. agreement; accord; harmonious relations.

   Synonyms:

   friendship, amity, peace, unity, concord

2. a consistent, orderly, or pleasing arrangement of parts; congruity.

   Synonyms:

   consonance, consistency, correspondence, conformity

3. Music.

   1. any simultaneous combination of tones.

   2. the simultaneous combination of tones, especially when blended into chords pleasing to the ear; chordal structure, as distinguished from melody and rhythm.

   3. the science of the structure, relations, and practical combination of chords.

4. an arrangement of the contents of the Gospels, either of all four or of the first three, designed to show their parallelism, mutual relations, and differences.

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harmony British  

/ ˈhɑːmənɪ /

noun

1. agreement in action, opinion, feeling, etc; accord

2. order or congruity of parts to their whole or to one another

3. agreeable sounds

4. music

   1. any combination of notes sounded simultaneously

   2. the vertically represented structure of a piece of music Compare melody rhythm

   3. the art or science concerned with the structure and combinations of chords

5. a collation of the material of parallel narratives, esp of the four Gospels

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harmony Cultural  

1. The sounding of two or more musical notes at the same time in a way that is pleasant or desired. Harmony, melody, and rhythm are elements of music.

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Related Words

See symmetry. Harmony, melody in music suggest a combination of sounds from voices or musical instruments. Harmony is the blending of simultaneous sounds of different pitch or quality, making chords: harmony in part singing; harmony between violins and horns. Melody is the rhythmical combination of successive sounds of various pitch, making up the tune or air: a tuneful melody to accompany cheerful words.

Other Word Forms

• nonharmony noun
• preharmony noun

Etymology

Origin of harmony

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English armonye, from Middle French, from Latin harmonia, from Greek harmonía “joint, framework, agreement, harmony,” akin to hárma “chariot,” harmós “joint,” ararískein “to join together”

Example Sentences

Modest to a fault, “Midwinter Break” seems to float like something cautious and wishful, hoping along with the audience that this union’s individual strains will fall into harmony once more.

From Los Angeles Times

While the King was launching his deeply-felt harmony film project about the environment recently, it was drowned out by the headlines about Andrew and the Epstein files.

From BBC

As DoorDash gets bigger, it has become more complex, and management has been taking steps to make the different companies under its umbrella work in harmony.

From MarketWatch

"This triumph is a result of the completeness of their performance, their high technical skill, the expressive power born from their harmony, and above all the bond of trust between the two," the spokesman said.

From Barron's

The complexity of the situation lies here: The invisible yet palpable alchemy of two souls dancing with each other through life in harmony is just that — a dance.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• conformity
• consensus
• consistency
• cooperation
• friendship
• good will
• kinship
• peace
• rapport
• tranquility
• unanimity
• understanding
• unity