Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

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

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A consonance or harmony of sounds agreeable to the ear, whether the sounds are vocal or instrumental, or both.
  • noun In music: Same as symphonia, 2.
  • noun Same as ritornelle.
  • noun An elaborate composition in three or more movements, essentially similar in construction to a sonata, but written for an orchestra, and usually of far grander proportions and more varied elements.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A consonance or harmony of sounds, agreeable to the ear, whether the sounds are vocal or instrumental, or both.
  • noun A stringed instrument formerly in use, somewhat resembling the virginal.
  • noun An elaborate instrumental composition for a full orchestra, consisting usually, like the sonata, of three or four contrasted yet inwardly related movements, as the allegro, the adagio, the minuet and trio, or scherzo, and the finale in quick time. The term has recently been applied to large orchestral works in freer form, with arguments or programmes to explain their meaning, such as the “symphonic poems” of Liszt. The term was formerly applied to any composition for an orchestra, as overtures, etc., and still earlier, to certain compositions partly vocal, partly instrumental.
  • noun An instrumental passage at the beginning or end, or in the course of, a vocal composition; a prelude, interlude, or postude; a ritornello.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun an extended piece of music of sophisticated structure, usually for orchestra
  • noun harmony in music or colour, or a harmonious combination of elements

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a large orchestra; can perform symphonies
  • noun a long and complex sonata for symphony orchestra

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek συμφωνία.

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Examples

  • I don't know if the mother I saw at the symphony is a failure.

    Sound Politics: School shooting 2007

  • The symphony is often very quiet but still filled with the rhythmic and spiritual elements one has come to expect from Pärt.

    Let It Rock 2009

  • It's a race, not only because the symphony is unfinished yet schedule to debut in less than a month, but because Reuben is going deaf.

    Archive 2010-07-01 2010

  • Still, there was something going around in the mid to late 90's in the gaming industry that doesn't really seem as prevalent today: Outrageous, preposterous ambitions to cram a complete history of everything into every plot point, every gameplay system, every FMV sequence ... it was like the late Romantic period at the turn of the 1900's, where Gustav Mahler could say "To write a symphony is to construct the world" and mean it.

    Great Big Bites SVGL 2009

  • It's a race, not only because the symphony is unfinished yet schedule to debut in less than a month, but because Reuben is going deaf.

    Rabid Reads: "Lanceheim" by Tim Davys 2010

  • Still, the symphony is informed by his predecessors and Conlon made a best case argument for its very classical style.

    Stomp me if you've heard this one before 2009

  • Fingers, a composer facing writer's block when it comes to his symphony, is despondent.

    Michael Giltz: Theater: New York Musical Festival (NYMF) Roundup Michael Giltz 2010

  • The symphony is undoubtedly a major orchestral work from a composer who is not known for them.

    Let It Rock 2009

  • Fingers, a composer facing writer's block when it comes to his symphony, is despondent.

    Michael Giltz: Theater: New York Musical Festival (NYMF) Roundup Michael Giltz 2010

  • Even the most adventurous Mozart symphony is still at least as structurally formulaic as an Indiana Jones movie, and often much more so.

    Archive 2008-06-01 Matthew Guerrieri 2008

Comments

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  • JM extends his symphony to all lovers of classical music.

    May 25, 2011