nounWord forms: plural -nies1. an extended large-scale orchestral composition, usually with several movements, at least one of which is in sonata form. The classical form of the symphony was fixed by Haydn and Mozart, but the innovations of subsequent composers have freed it entirely from classical constraints. It continues to be a vehicle for serious, large-scale orchestral music
2. a piece of instrumental music in up to three very short movements, used as an overture to or interlude in a baroque opera
3. any purely orchestral movement in a vocal work, such as a cantata or oratorio
4. short for symphony orchestra
5. (in musical theory, esp of classical Greece)a. another word for consonance (sense 3), Compare diaphony (sense 2)
b. the interval of unison
6. anything distinguished by a harmonious composition
the picture was a symphony of green
7. archaic harmony in general; concord
Word origin
C13: from Old French
symphonie, from Latin
symphōnia concord, concert, from Greek
sumphōnia, from
syn- +
phōnē sound