organ

or·gan

O0115100 (ôr′gən)n.1. Music a. An instrument consisting of a number of pipes that sound tones when supplied with air and a keyboard that operates a mechanism controlling the flow of air to the pipes. Also called pipe organ.b. Any one of various other instruments, such as the electronic organ, that resemble a pipe organ either in mechanism or sound.2. Biology A differentiated part of an organism, such as an eye, wing, or leaf, that performs a specific function.3. An instrument or agency dedicated to the performance of specified functions: The FBI is an organ of the Justice Department.4. An instrument or means of communication, especially a periodical issued by a political party, business firm, or other group.

[Middle English, from Old French organe and from Old English organe, both from Latin organum, tool, instrument, from Greek organon; see werg- in Indo-European roots.]

organ

(ˈɔːɡən) n1. (Instruments) a. Also called: pipe organ a large complex musical keyboard instrument in which sound is produced by means of a number of pipes arranged in sets or stops, supplied with air from a bellows. The largest instruments possess three or more manuals and one pedal keyboard and have the greatest range of any instrumentb. (as modifier): organ pipe; organ stop; organ loft. 2. (Instruments) any instrument, such as a harmonium, in which sound is produced in this way. See also reed organ, harmonica3. (Instruments) short for electric organ^1a, electronic organ4. (Biology) a fully differentiated structural and functional unit, such as a kidney or a root, in an animal or plant5. an agency or medium of communication, esp a periodical issued by a specialist group or party6. an instrument with which something is done or accomplished7. a euphemistic word for penis[C13: from Old French organe, from Latin organum implement, from Greek organon tool; compare Greek ergein to work]

or•gan

(ˈɔr gən)

n. 1. a. Also called pipe organ. a musical instrument having one or more sets of pipes actuated by keyboard and sounded by compressed air. b. a similar musical instrument having the tones produced electronically: an electronic organ. c. reed organ. d. barrel organ. e. hand organ. 2. a grouping of tissues into a distinct structure, as a heart or kidney in animals or a leaf or stamen in plants, that performs a specialized task. 3. a newspaper, magazine, or other means of communicating information, thoughts, or opinions, esp. in behalf of some organization or political group. 4. an instrument or means, as of action. 5. penis. [before 1000; Middle English: musical instrument, pipe organ, organ of the body, tool « Greek órganon implement, tool, bodily organ, musical instrument, akin to érgon work]

or·gan

(ôr′gən) A distinct part of an organism that performs one or more particular functions. Examples of organs are the eyes, ears, lungs, and heart of an animal, and the roots, stems, and leaves of a plant.

organ

- Comes from Latin organum, from Greek oganon, "implement, instrument, tool"; it was first a very general term, but was then used for "wind instrument" and "functional part of the body."See also related terms for wind instrument.

organ

1. A structure composed of several tissues that performs a specific function, e.g. stomach, leaf.2. Part of the body made of different tissues that performs a particular task.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	organ - a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular functionovipositor - egg-laying tubular structure at the end of the abdomen in many female insects and some fishessiphon, syphon - a tubular organ in an aquatic animal (especially in mollusks) through which water can be taken in or expelledcomb-plate, ctene - a locomotor organ consisting of a row of strong cilia whose bases are fusedwing - a movable organ for flying (one of a pair)invertebrate foot, foot - any of various organs of locomotion or attachment in invertebratessucker - an organ specialized for sucking nourishment or for adhering to objects by suctionstinger - a sharp organ of offense or defense (as of a wasp or stingray or scorpion) often connected with a poison glandbody part - any part of an organism such as an organ or extremitycontractile organ, contractor - a bodily organ that contractsanlage, primordium - an organ in its earliest stage of development; the foundation for subsequent developmentvital organ, vitals - a bodily organ that is essential for lifeeffector - an organ (a gland or muscle) that becomes active in response to nerve impulsesexternal organ - an organ that is situated on or near the surface of the bodyinternal organ, viscus - a main organ that is situated inside the bodysense organ, sensory receptor, receptor - an organ having nerve endings (in the skin or viscera or eye or ear or nose or mouth) that respond to stimulationglossa, lingua, tongue, clapper - a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavityorgan of speech, speech organ, vocal organ - any of the organs involved in speech productioncrystalline lens, lens of the eye, lens - biconvex transparent body situated behind the iris in the eye; its role (along with the cornea) is to focuses light on the retinagland, secreter, secretor, secretory organ - any of various organs that synthesize substances needed by the body and release it through ducts or directly into the bloodstreamcell organ, cell organelle, organelle - a specialized part of a cell; analogous to an organ; "the first organelle to be identified was the nucleus"end organ - a specialized structure at the peripheral end of some motor or sensory nerve fiberslobe - (anatomy) a somewhat rounded subdivision of a bodily organ or part; "ear lobe"reproductive organ, sex organ - any organ involved in sexual reproductiontarget organ - (radiology) organ intended to receive the therapeutic dose of a radioactive substancetaret organ - (endocrinology) organ most affected by a particular hormoneerectile organ - an organ containing erectile tissue
	2.	organ - a government agency or instrument devoted to the performance of some specific function; "The Census Bureau is an organ of the Commerce Department"bureau, federal agency, government agency, agency, office, authority - an administrative unit of government; "the Central Intelligence Agency"; "the Census Bureau"; "Office of Management and Budget"; "Tennessee Valley Authority"
	3.	organ - (music) an electronic simulation of a pipe organelectric organ, electronic organ, Hammond organelectronic instrument, electronic musical instrument - a musical instrument that generates sounds electronicallymusic - an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
	4.	organ - a periodical that is published by a special interest group; "the organ of the communist party"periodical - a publication that appears at fixed intervalshouse organ - a periodical published by a business firm for its employees and customers
	5.	organ - wind instrument whose sound is produced by means of pipes arranged in sets supplied with air from a bellows and controlled from a large complex musical keyboardpipe organkeyboard - device consisting of a set of keys on a piano or organ or typewriter or typesetting machine or computer or the likekeyboard instrument - a musical instrument that is played by means of a keyboardorgan pipe, pipework, pipe - the flues and stops on a pipe organfoot lever, foot pedal, treadle, pedal - a lever that is operated with the footclavier, piano keyboard, fingerboard - a bank of keys on a musical instrumentstop - (music) a knob on an organ that is pulled to change the sound quality from the organ pipes; "the organist pulled out all the stops"wind instrument, wind - a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by an enclosed column of air that is moved by the breath
	6.	organ - a free-reed instrument in which air is forced through the reeds by bellowsharmonium, reed organfree-reed instrument - a wind instrument with a free reed

organ

noun1. body part, part of the body, member, element, biological structure damage to the muscles and internal organs2. newspaper, paper, medium, voice, agency, channel, vehicle, journal, publication, rag (informal), gazette, periodical, mouthpiece the People's Daily, the official organ of the Chinese Commmunist Party

organ

noun1. A component of government that performs a given function:agency, arm, branch, department, division, wing.2. That by which something is accomplished or some end achieved:agency, agent, instrument, instrumentality, instrumentation, intermediary, mean (used in plural), mechanism, medium.

Translations

器官报刊机关报管风琴风琴

organ¹

(ˈoːgən) noun1. a part of the body or of a plant which has a special purpose. the reproductive organs.器官2. a means of spreading information, eg a newspaper. an organ of the Communist Party. 喉舌，报刊，机关报 orˈganic (-ˈgӕ-) adjective1. of or concerning the organs of the body. organic diseases.器官的2. of, found in, or produced by, living things. Organic compounds all contain carbon.有机体的3. (of food) grown without the use of artificial fertilizers. 有机的orˈganically adverb有机地

organ²

(ˈoːgən) noun a usually large musical instrument similar to a piano, with or without pipes. He plays the organ; an electric organ.管风琴ˈorganist noun a person who plays the organ. the organist in the church.风琴手

organ

→ 器官zhCN, 风琴zhCN

Organ

organ,

a musical wind instrument in which sound is produced by one or more sets of pipes controlled by a keyboard, each pipe producing only one pitch by means of a mechanically produced or electrically controlled wind supply.

Early Organs

Ktesibios of Alexandria, in the 3d cent. B.C., invented the hydraulis, in which water pressure was used to stabilize the wind supply. The pipes were arranged in rows upon the wind chest and the air was permitted to enter any pipe at will by means of wooden sliders. The hydraulis was the prevailing organ for several centuries and reappeared at intervals throughout the Middle Ages.

Evidence of the first purely pneumatic organ is found on an obelisk erected at Byzantium before A.D. 393. Byzantium became the center of organ building in the Middle Ages, and in 757 Constantine V presented a Byzantine organ to Pepin the Short. This is the earliest positive evidence of the appearance of the organ in Western Europe. By the 10th cent., however, organ building had made considerable progress in Germany and England. The organ built c.950 in Winchester Cathedral is said to have had 400 pipes and 26 bellows and required two players and 70 men to operate the bellows.

The keyboard, or manual, was a creation of the 13th cent., making possible the performance of more complex music. The earliest extant music written specifically for organ, dating from the early 14th cent., gives evidence that by then the manuals of the organ had full chromatic scales, at least in the middle registers. Organs in the Middle Ages already had several ranks of pipes, each key causing a number of pipes to sound simultaneously. All were diapasons, or principals, the pipes of timbre characteristic only of the organ, and the various pipes controlled by one key were tuned to the fundamental and several harmonics of a given tone.

The Development of the Modern Organ

The 15th cent. saw considerable development of the organ, particularly in Germany and Flanders. It became possible to sound single pipes from a rank through the use of stops. Mutation and mixture stops that produce several harmonicsharmonic.
1 Physical term describing the vibration in segments of a sound-producing body (see sound). A string vibrates simultaneously in its whole length and in segments of halves, thirds, fourths, etc.
..... Click the link for more information. of the unison pitch came to be used in combination with the unison to vary tone color. Solo stops imitative of other instruments, mainly flute and reed pipes, were added, and the pedal became standard. Until the 19th cent., Italy and England preferred an organ with no pedals.

It was the Flemish and German builders who developed the organ of distinctive and contrasting timbres, and the peak in organ building was reached in the German organ of the baroque, as described by Michael PraetoriusPraetorius, Michael
, 1571–1621, German composer and musicographer, whose name originally was Schultheiss. He was a prolific composer, his Musae Sioniae (9 vol., 1605–11) alone containing 1,244 choral works.
..... Click the link for more information. in his Syntagma musicum (1618). The greatest organ builder, perhaps of all time, was Gottfried Silbermann (1683–1753) of Dresden. His organs produced a light, transparent tone, ideal for the performance of the great baroque polyphonic music. After this period the art of organ building degenerated, and the organ lost its place in the center of musical life.

The 19th-century desire for a highly expressive organ led to the obscuring of diapason tone by the large number of stops imitative of orchestral tone and to the common employment of the swell and the crescendo pedal. The swell involves enclosing one or more divisions of the organ in a wooden box on one side of which are shutters opened or closed by means of a swell pedal; the crescendo pedal, when gradually opened or closed, adds or takes off stops one by one.

The early 20th cent. saw the electrification of the mechanical parts of the organ, fulfilling the trend toward monstrous size and overwhelming power. In America, this large "king of instruments" became a feature of municipal auditoriums, movie palaces, churches, department stores, schools, and many other institutions. The master architect of these colossal orchestral organs was Ernest M. Skinner. In the early 20th cent., however, Albert SchweitzerSchweitzer, Albert
, 1875–1965, Alsatian theologian, musician, and medical missionary. Determined to become a medical missionary, he obtained a doctorate in medicine at the Univ.
..... Click the link for more information. was active in the preservation and restoration of many fine old organs, and there was a movement back to the ideals of Silbermann. In the United States, Walter Holtkamp, beginning in 1932, and G. Donald Harrison, in 1935, became the leading figures in this movement. Harrison designed many organs suitable for the performance of music of all periods. In the United States much of the repertoire was performed by the two leading organists of the era, E. Power BiggsBiggs, E. Power
(Edward George Power Biggs), 1906–77, Anglo-American organist. Biggs studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London. He emigrated to the United States in 1930.
..... Click the link for more information. and Virgil Fox. By the beginning of the 21st cent., European and American organ builders continued to concentrate on early principles for the construction of their instruments.

Music for the Organ

The organ repertory is vast and varied. The great organ masterpieces of the 17th and 18th cent. include works by John Bull, HandelHandel, George Frideric
, 1685–1759, English composer, b. Halle, Germany. Handel was one of the greatest masters of baroque music, most widely celebrated for his majestic oratorio Messiah. Of German descent, he was originally named Georg Friedrich Handel.
..... Click the link for more information. , Jan SweelinckSweelinck, Jan Pieterszoon
, 1562–1621, Dutch organist and composer, called the "maker of German organists" because the succession of his pupils descended directly to J. S. Bach and Handel.
..... Click the link for more information. , Girolamo FrescobaldiFrescobaldi, Girolamo
, 1583–1643, Italian organist and composer. He became organist at St. Peter's in Rome in 1608, where huge crowds came during most of his life to hear him play and improvise. From 1628 to 1634 he was organist at the court of the Medici in Florence.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Dietrich BuxtehudeBuxtehude, Dietrich
, c.1637–1707, Danish composer and organist. From 1668 until his death he was organist at Lübeck, where he established a famous series of evening concerts that attracted musicians from all over northern Germany. On one occasion J. S.
..... Click the link for more information. . In the compositions of J. S. BachBach, Johann Sebastian
, 1685–1750, German composer and organist, b. Eisenach; one of the greatest and most influential composers of the Western world. He brought polyphonic baroque music to its culmination, creating masterful and vigorous works in almost every musical
..... Click the link for more information. the capabilities of the organ found their most magnificent expression.

Bibliography

See H. Gleason, Methods of Organ Playing (5th ed. 1962); C. F. Williams, The Story of the Organ (1903, repr. 1972); W. L. Sumner, The Organ (rev ed. 1973); P. Williams and B. Owens, The Organ (1988); C. R. Whitney, All the Stops: The Glorious Pipe Organ and Its American Masters (2003).

Organ

(in biology), a part of the body of an animal or plant that performs one or several characteristic functions. Examples of animal organs are the brain, heart, eye, liver, and stomach, while the root, stem, leaf, and flower are examples of plant organs.

An organism is able to act as a unified whole owing to the interconnection and interaction of its organs (seeCORRELATION). Organs are classified according to their principal functions; for instance, animal organs can be locomotor, digestive, respiratory, circulatory, or excretory, and plants have photosynthetic and absorptive organs. Reproductive organs are common to both animals and plants. Functionally complementary organs are united into systems that ensure the principal life functions of the organism. Each organ usually consists of a number of tissues, each of which performs a narrower function than the organ as a whole. Most organs perform several functions. In comparative studies, a distinction is made between analogous and homologous organs (seeANALOGY, HOMOLOGY).

In the development of a species, reduction or increase in the size, complexity, and function of an organ is a consequence of natural selection and of new requirements of the organism in response to environmental changes. Examples of such structural and functional modifications in organs are the reduction of eyes in burrowing and speluncar animals, the reduction of stamens in labiates and scrophulariaceous plants, the development of lungs in a number of terrestrial vertebrates, and the well-developed root system of plants that grow in arid habitats.

Organ

a multibarrel weapon used in various armies in the 16th and early 17th centuries. The name “organ” originated from its external resemblance to the musical instrument.

The organ had from six to 24 or more barrels (muskets, mortars, and small-caliber cannon) secured in several rows on a special shaft or on frames. The detonators of the barrels in each row were connected by a single groove, making it possible to fire a simultaneous volley. Organs were usually placed on wheeled carriages. Similar guns in Russia were called soroki. They went out of use with the invention of case shot.

Organ

a wind keyboard musical instrument consisting of a set of wooden and metal pipes of various sizes and a pneumatic system (an air-compressing mechanism and conductors) contained in one cabinet, and a separate control panel, or console. In addition to keyboards for the hands (manuals) and feet (pedal board), the console houses the handles of various levers that connect (couple) the keyboards and switch on the ranks, as well as devices that control the volume of sound.

An organ may have from one to seven manuals, each including up to 72 keys, and a single pedal board (usually, up to 32 keys). Some modern organs have a second pedal board. Organs may have up to several thousand pipes (sounding mechanisms), which are divided into groups called ranks, or registers. The total number of ranks in an organ depends on the size of the instrument. A small organ may have up to ten, and a large one may have several hundred. Each rank has a characteristic timbre and is controlled by a lever or button. Music for the organ is written on three staffs. Usually, the ranks are not indicated.

There are three main operating systems, or actions. In an organ with mechanical (tracker) action, the energy of the movement of the organist’s finger is transmitted from the key to the valve, which is opened by means of many trackers (rods), sliders, wooden brackets and blocks, permitting air to enter the pipe. With pneumatic action, wind pressure transmits an impulse of air through pipe-conductors to a pipe valve, opening it. Pneumatic action organs are not common. Electric action transmits the organist’s “instructions” from the keys to the pipes by means of electric cables. The best type of modern organ offers a combination of mechanical and electric action.

The volynka, the ancient Chinese sheng, and the European panpipes are predecessors of the organ. A water organ known as the hydraulus was invented in the third century B.C. in Greece.

Among the composers who have contributed to the organ repertoire are J. S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Brahms, C. Saint-Saëns, B. Britten, A. K. Glazunov, A. F. Gedike, D. D. Shostakovich, A. Kapp, and A. Kalniņŝ. The popularity of the organ in Europe increased most rapidly in the 16th through 18th centuries.

REFERENCES

Glebov, I. “O polifonicheskom iskusstve, ob organnoi kul’ture i o muzykal’noi sovremennosti.” In the collection Polifoniia i organ v sovremennosti. Leningrad, 1926.
Braudo, I. “Vozrozhdenie organa.” In the collection Sovremennyi instrumentalizm. Leningrad, 1927. (Novaia muzyka, collection 3.)
Farmer, H. G. The Organ of the Ancients. London, 1931.
Klotz, H. Das Buch von der Orgel, 6th ed. Kassel, 1960.

organ

[′ȯr·gən] (anatomy) A differentiated structure of an organism composed of various cells or tissues and adapted for a specific function.

organ

1. a. a large complex musical keyboard instrument in which sound is produced by means of a number of pipes arranged in sets or stops, supplied with air from a bellows. The largest instruments possess three or more manuals and one pedal keyboard and have the greatest range of any instrument b. (as modifier): organ pipe 2. any instrument, such as a harmonium, in which sound is produced in this way 3. short for electric organ electronic organ4. Biology a fully differentiated structural and functional unit, such as a kidney or a root, in an animal or plant

organ

or·gan

organ

or•gan

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organ grinder's monkey

the organ grinder's monkey

Organ

organ,

Early Organs

The Development of the Modern Organ

Music for the Organ

Bibliography

Organ

Organ

Organ

REFERENCES

organ

organ

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organ

or·gan

organ

trivial name

or·gan

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Patient discussion about organ

organ

Synonyms for organ

noun body part

Synonyms

noun newspaper

Synonyms

Synonyms for organ

noun a component of government that performs a given function

Synonyms

noun that by which something is accomplished or some end achieved

Synonyms

Synonyms for organ

noun a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function

Related Words

noun a government agency or instrument devoted to the performance of some specific function

Related Words

noun (music) an electronic simulation of a pipe organ

Synonyms

Related Words

noun a periodical that is published by a special interest group

Related Words

noun wind instrument whose sound is produced by means of pipes arranged in sets supplied with air from a bellows and controlled from a large complex musical keyboard

Synonyms

Related Words

noun a free-reed instrument in which air is forced through the reeds by bellows

Synonyms

Related Words

organ¹

organ²