Wordwyrt

symphony

/ˈsɪmfəni/SIM-fuh-nee
/ˈsɪmfəni/SIM-fuh-nee

Meaningsounding together

Common meaning: a large-scale work written for a full orchestra

‘together’ + ‘voice, sound’ → symphony

Journey through time

  1. Greekφωνή (phōnḗ)‘voice, sound’
  2. Latinsympkonia
  3. Englishsymphony‘a large-scale work written for a full orchestra’ · today

sym- also in: symbolsymptomsymbolicsympathysupersymmetry

phon also in: phonologycacophonyhomophonemegaphonetelephone

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ) ‘voice, sound’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry φωνή (phōnḗ), p. 877 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

cacophonyhomophonemegaphonemicrophonephonologytelephonexylophone

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app