symphony - Definitions from Dictionary.com

8 results for: symphony

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

sym·pho·ny

Audio Help [sim-fuh-nee] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -nies.

Music.

a.	an elaborate instrumental composition in three or more movements, similar in form to a sonata but written for an orchestra and usually of far grander proportions and more varied elements.

b.	an instrumental passage occurring in a vocal composition, or between vocal movements in a composition.

c.	an instrumental piece, often in several movements, forming the overture to an opera or the like.

2.	symphony orchestra.

3.	a concert performed by a symphony orchestra.

4.	anything characterized by a harmonious combination of elements, esp. an effective combination of colors.

5.	harmony of sounds.

6.	Archaic. agreement; concord.

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME symfonye < OF symphonie < L symphōnia concert < Gk symphōnía harmony. See sym-, -phony

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
symphony

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

sym·pho·ny Audio Help (sĭm'fə-nē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. sym·pho·nies

Music
1. An extended piece in three or more movements for symphony orchestra.
2. An instrumental passage in a vocal or choral composition.
3. An instrumental overture or interlude, as in early opera.
4. A symphony orchestra.
5. An orchestral concert.
Music
1. A symphony orchestra.
2. An orchestral concert.
Harmony, especially of sound or color.
Something characterized by a harmonious combination of elements.

[Middle English symphonye, harmony, from Old French symphonie, from Latin symphōnia, from Greek sumphōniā, from sumphōnos, harmonious : sun-, syn- + phōnē, sound; see bhā-² in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
symphony

c.1290, the name of various musical instruments, from O.Fr. symphonie "harmony" (12c.), from L. symphonia "a unison of sounds, harmony," from Gk. symphonia "harmony, concert," from symphonos "harmonious," from syn- "together" + phone "voice, sound" (see fame). Meaning "harmony of sounds" is attested from c.1440; sense of "music in parts" is from 1599. "It was only after the advent of Haydn that this word began to mean a sonata for full orchestra. Before that time it meant a prelude, postlude, or interlude, or any short instrumental work." ["Elson's Music Dictionary"] Meaning "elaborate orchestral composition" first attested 1789 (symphonic in this sense is from 1864). Elliptical for "symphony orchestra" from 1926.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

symphony
noun
1.	a long and complex sonata for symphony orchestra
2.	a large orchestra; can perform symphonies; "we heard the Vienna symphony" [syn: symphony orchestra]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
symphony [ˈsimfəni] noun — plural ˈsymphonies

a usually long piece of music for an orchestra of many different instruments, in three or four movements or parts

Arabic:	سمفونِيَّه: تأليف موسيقي من عِدَّة حَرَكات تَعْزِفُه ف
Chinese (Simplified):	交响曲（乐）
Chinese (Traditional):	交響曲(樂)
Czech:	symfonie
Danish:	symfoni
Dutch:	symfonie
Estonian:	sümfoonia
Finnish:	sinfonia
French:	symphonie
German:	die Sinfonie
Greek:	συμφωνία (μουσ.)
Hungarian:	szimfónia
Icelandic:	sinfónía
Indonesian:	simfoni
Italian:	sinfonia

Japanese:	交響曲
Latvian:	simfonija
Lithuanian:	simfonija
Norwegian:	symfoni
Polish:	symfonia
Portuguese (Brazil):	sinfonia
Portuguese (Portugal):	sinfonia
Romanian:	simfonie
Russian:	симфония
Slovak:	symfónia
Slovenian:	simfonija
Spanish:	sinfonía
Swedish:	symfoni
Turkish:	senfoni

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
symphony

An extended musical composition for orchestra in several movements, typically four. Among the composers especially known for their symphonies are Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Franz Josef Haydn, Gustav Mahler, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

[Chapter:] Fine Arts

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

Symphony tool, product
Lotus Development's successor to their Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet. Unlike 1-2-3, Symphony allowed a limited form of multitasking. The user could switch manually between it and MS-DOS and separate graph and spreadsheet windows could be opened simultaneously and would be updated automatically when cells were changed. In addition, a small word processor could be opened in a third window. These all could be printed out on the same report. Symphony could read and write Lotus 1-2-3 files and had interactive graphical output and a word processor, thus making it effectively a report generator. Unlike 1-2-3, Symphony was not a great commercial success.
(1995-03-28)