HARMONY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does harmony mean? 

• HARMONY (noun)
  The noun HARMONY has 5 senses:

1. compatibility in opinion and action

2. the structure of music with respect to the composition and progression of chords

3. a harmonious state of things in general and of their properties (as of colors and sounds); congruity of parts with one another and with the whole

4. agreement of opinions

5. an agreeable sound property

  Familiarity information: HARMONY used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HARMONY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Compatibility in opinion and action

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

harmoniousness; harmony

Hypernyms ("harmony" is a kind of...):

compatibility (capability of existing or performing in harmonious or congenial combination)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "harmony"):

congruence; congruity; congruousness (the quality of agreeing; being suitable and appropriate)

Derivation:

harmonize (go together)

harmonical (involving or characterized by harmony)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The structure of music with respect to the composition and progression of chords

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

harmony; musical harmony

Hypernyms ("harmony" is a kind of...):

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "harmony"):

harmonisation; harmonization (a piece of harmonized music)

four-part harmony (harmony in which each chord has four notes that create four melodic lines)

preparation ((music) a note that produces a dissonant chord is first heard in a consonant chord)

resolution ((music) a dissonant chord is followed by a consonant chord)

Derivation:

harmonic (of or relating to the branch of acoustics that studies the composition of musical sounds)

harmonical (involving or characterized by harmony)

harmonious (musically pleasing)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A harmonious state of things in general and of their properties (as of colors and sounds); congruity of parts with one another and with the whole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

concord; concordance; harmony

Hypernyms ("harmony" is a kind of...):

order (established customary state (especially of society))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "harmony"):

peace (harmonious relations; freedom from disputes)

comity (a state or atmosphere of harmony or mutual civility and respect)

accord; agreement (harmony of people's opinions or actions or characters)

Derivation:

harmonic; harmonical (involving or characterized by harmony)

harmonious (existing together in harmony)

harmonious (exhibiting equivalence or correspondence among constituents of an entity or between different entities)

harmonise (bring into consonance or accord)

harmonise (bring (several things) into consonance or relate harmoniously)

harmonize (bring into consonance or accord)

harmonize (bring (several things) into consonance or relate harmoniously)

harmonize (go together)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Agreement of opinions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

concord; concordance; harmony

Hypernyms ("harmony" is a kind of...):

agreement (the verbal act of agreeing)

Derivation:

harmonical (involving or characterized by harmony)

Sense 5

Meaning:

An agreeable sound property

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("harmony" is a kind of...):

sound property (an attribute of sound)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "harmony"):

consonance; harmoniousness (the property of sounding harmonious)

Antonym:

dissonance (disagreeable sounds)

Derivation:

harmonic (of or relating to harmony as distinct from melody and rhythm)

harmonical (involving or characterized by harmony)

harmonious (musically pleasing)

 Context examples 

Now let’s turn to a very big day, December 15, when Jupiter will be in supreme harmony with Uranus.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I was willing to do anything to relieve Mr. James from his difficulty, and to restore harmony between himself and an affectionate parent, who has undergone so much on his account.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Finally, the researchers saw similar results when they used sounds that contained more natural harmonies for monkeys by playing recordings of macaque calls.

(Our brains appear uniquely tuned for musical pitch, National Institutes of Health)

When these regulatory proteins work in harmony, they control the pathway for normal gene expression, resulting in normal skeletal muscle cells.

(New Genes Found Responsible for Regulating Muscle Cells, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Harmony was the soul of our companionship, and the diversity and contrast that subsisted in our characters drew us nearer together.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Oriental medicine aims to restore the body’s balance and harmony between the natural opposing forces of yin and yang, which can block qi and cause disease.

(Oriental medicine, NCI Dictionary)

Also used to describe a harmony of opinion.

(Agreement, NCI Thesaurus)

Oriental medicine aims to restore the body's balance and harmony between the natural opposing forces of yin and yang, which can block qi and cause disease.

(Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, NCI Dictionary)

The grace and harmony of beauty are quite wanting in those features.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

This topic was discussed very happily, and others succeeded of similar moment, and passed away with similar harmony; but the evening did not close without a little return of agitation.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)