discord
noun /ˈdɪskɔːd 
/ [mass noun]
/ [mass noun]1Disagreement between people: a prosperous family who showed no signs of discord...
- That will not be accomplished by bickering and discord and infighting on a grand scale.
- When you notice these vices - envy, discord, contention, quarrelling - chances are your place of work is in need of a spirituality for the work place.
- There are signs of discord in the clubhouse, however.
Synonyms
strife, conflict, friction, hostility;
disagreement, lack of agreement, dissension, dispute, difference of opinion, discordance, disunity, division, incompatibility, variance;
antagonism, antipathy, enmity, opposition, bad feeling, ill feeling, bad blood, argument, quarrelling, squabbling, bickering, wrangling, feuding, contention, clashing, falling-out, war, vendetta
archaic jar
rare disaccord
1.1Lack of agreement or harmony between things: the discord between indigenous and Western cultures...
- But at today's meetings and agreements, discord was quite apparent in the Group of Eight.
- During periods of social upheaval or political discord, they experience heightened levels of violence and trauma, both physical and psychological, both within the home and outside it.
- Scorn and religious guilt are not solutions to social discord.
2 Music Lack of harmony between notes sounding together: the music faded in discord...
- Then an unwelcome sound stumbled into the song - one of discord - a sour note that did not belong and that would change everything.
- Since the music unfolds within the set framework of the raga, there is more harmony and less discord.
- With his best concentration it was still beyond him, the rhythms too disjointed, the shifts from discord into harmony too complex.
Synonyms
dissonance, discordance, lack of harmony, disharmony, cacophony, jarring, jangling
2.1 [count noun] A chord which (in conventional harmonic terms) is regarded as unpleasing or requiring resolution by another.Haydn was again the chief model, but Beethoven introduced many daring innovations, including beginning the symphony with an out-of-key discord....
- At times, however, music of great austerity and purity is shattered by painful, pounding discords.
- Tuned to the harmonic series, it sounds along with the rhythm of the waves, and its sound is more ambient than tuneful, although you do hear elements of tune and resolving discords.
2.2 [count noun] Any interval except unison, an octave, a perfect fifth or fourth, a major or minor third and sixth, or their octaves.Equally personal is Bellini's use of simple appoggiatura discords on strong beats, which combine with a ‘soft’ orchestration to give a movingly poignant effect.
2.3 [count noun] A single note dissonant with another.
verb /dɪsˈkɔːd / [no object] archaic
/ [no object] archaic1(Of people) disagree: we discorded commonly on two points...
- And on her side gentle thoughts and simple pleasures were odious to Mrs. Becky; they discorded with her; she hated people for liking them; she spurned children and children-lovers.
- The morn thereafter he discorded with Overbury, who would have him intend a suit that was unlawful.
- The Frenchmen however discording with the English, departed and left Captain Morgan and his countrymen to seek fortune in their own way.
1.1(Of things) be different: the party’s views were apt to discord with those of the leading members of the government...
- In contemplation of the resentment of Hyder, and the progress of his power, the party, the views of which were apt to discord with those of the leading members of the government, had strongly urged upon them the necessity of making preparations against the invasion.
- Exactly because of that reason I will need to discord with the part of the article defending that companies are able to ‘create’ needs within customers.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French descord (noun), descorder (verb), from Latin discordare, from discors 'discordant', from dis- (expressing negation, reversal) + cor, cord- 'heart'.
cordial from Middle English:
The Latin word cordis meant ‘to do with the heart’, and this is the source and original meaning of cordial. It was not long before the adjective was being used to describe drinks as ‘comforting’ or ‘stimulating the heart’, and the core ‘heart’ meaning came to be applied to people too, in connection with actions or behaviour that seemed sincere and heartfelt—acting ‘from the heart’. The root, Latin cor ‘heart’, is the source of many words, including chord, discord (Middle English), and courage (Middle English). Heart itself came from the same ancient root.