English
homophony
Homophony comes from Ancient Greek ὁμοφωνία ‘unison’, and goes back to ὁμόφωνος ‘of the same sound or tone’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὁμόφωνοςhomóphōnos‘of the same sound or tone’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEὁμοφωνίαhomophōnía‘unison’
- Frenchc. 1600–presenthomophonie
- Englishearliest quotation 1921homophony
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὁμόφωνοςhomóphōnos‘of the same sound or tone’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEὁμοφωνίαhomophōnía‘unison’
- Frenchc. 1600–presenthomophonie
- Englishearliest quotation 1921homophony
Earliest quotation: 1921, Henry Alfred Todd, ‘It Is Me’: “On the other hand, it seems to be the…”
Equivalent to homo- + -phony
Proto-Indo-European *sem- ‘one, whole’
Proto-Indo-European *somHós ‘same, alike’
Proto-Hellenic *homós
Ancient Greek ὁμός ‘same’
English homo-
Every English word from Ancient Greek ὁμόφωνος
Today it means
noun A musical texture in which two or more parts move together in harmony, the relationship between them creating chords; the quality of being homophonic.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ὁμόφωνος / homophony