Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
chordophone

chordophone

9.9
A musical instrument that makes sound by vibrating strings, like a violin or harp
  • noun
  • /ˈkɔrdəˌfoʊn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cordófono
  • In music class, we learned that a chordophone produces sound using vibrating strings.

Examples

  • The second task was for the students to categorize their instrument as a membranophone, a chordophone, an aerophone, or an idiophone.

    Academic text (1990)

  • But occasionally he joined them and managed to coax sounds from an awkward chordophone that the musicians had not even imagined.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The musician played a beautiful melody on her chordophone, showcasing its rich sound.

  • Her grandfather built a handmade chordophone that echoed traditional folk tunes.

Synonyms

stringed instrument
vschordophone
  • Specialized
4 2.9

A musical instrument that makes sound when its strings are played, like a guitar or violin

focuses on types such as harps lutes lyres and zithers rather than method

Surface Forms

chordophone singular
chordophones plural

Morphology

chordophone = chord + phone (semi-transparent) = chord + phone

The elements 'chord' and 'phone' are recognizable, but the term is a specialized technical compound where 'chord' relates to 'string' rather than the common meaning 'musical chord', making the derivation not fully transparent to general learners.

Etymology

Chordophone comes from Greek parts chord meaning 'string' and -phone meaning 'sound', so think of chord like the English word 'cord' for a string and -phone like in telephone meaning 'sound'. So a chordophone is an instrument that makes 'sound' by vibrating 'strings'.