MONOCHORD Definition & Meaning

monochord

[mon-uh-kawrd]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

an acoustical instrument dating from antiquity, consisting of an oblong wooden sounding box, usually with a single string, used for the mathematical determination of musical intervals.

monochord

/ ˈ��ɒ��əʊˌ��ɔː�� /

noun

Also called: sonometer.��an instrument employed in acoustic analysis or investigation, consisting usually of one string stretched over a resonator of wood

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of monochord¹

1375–1425; late Middle English monocorde < Medieval Latin monochordum < Greek ��ǲ�ó��ǰ��ǲ�, noun use of neuter of ��ǲ�ó��ǰ��ǲ� with one string. See mono-, chord ¹

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of monochord¹

C15: from Old French, from Late Latin, from Greek monokhordon, from _mono- + ��ǰ��ŧ string

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

When you place the bridge exactly in the middle of the monochord, touching the center of the string, each half of the string plays the same note: a tone exactly one octave higher than the string’s fundamental.

From

The harmony of the monochord was the harmony of mathematics—and the harmony of the universe.

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Putting the bridge on the monochord so it touches the string changes the notes that are played.

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One day, according to legend, Pythagoras was toying with a monochord, a box with a string on it.

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By moving a sliding bridge up and down the monochord, Pythagoras changed the notes that the device played.

From

monochloroacetic acid monochroic

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