concinnity

English

Etymology

Coined 1531 by Sir Thomas Elyot in his treatise, The Boke Named The Governor, from Latin concinnitās (“skillfully put together”).

Noun

concinnity (countable and uncountable, plural concinnities)

1. (music) The harmonious reinforcement of the various parts of a work of art.
   • 1815, William Kirby, William Spence, “Preface”, in An Introduction to Entomology: Or Elements of the Natural History of Insects: with Plates‎^[1], 3rd edition, volume 1, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, published 1818, page xii:

     In the Terminology, or what, to avoid the barbarism of a word compounded of Latin and Greek, they would beg to call the Orismology of the science, they have endeavoured to introduce throughout a greater degree of precision and concinnity—dividing it into general and partial Orismology; […]

Usage notes

Although the concept of concinnity can apply to any object or situation, it is most commonly used in the discussion of music.

Antonyms

• inconcinnity