cord

See also: Cord and còrd

English

An electrical cord.

Cord consisting of twisted fiber.

Etymology

From Middle English corde, from Old French corde, from Latin chorda, from Doric Ancient Greek χορδά (khordá, “string of gut, the string of a lyre”) (compare Ionic χορδή (khordḗ), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- (“bowel”)). More at yarn and hernia.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kɔɹd/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kɔːd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)d
• Homophones: chord, cored (in accents with the horse-hoarse merger), cawed (in non-rhotic accents)

Noun

cord (countable and uncountable, plural cords)

1. (countable) A long, thin, flexible length of twisted yarns (strands) of fiber (a rope, for example).

   The burglar tied up the victim with a cord.

2. (uncountable) Any quantity of such material when viewed as a mass or commodity.

   Synonym: cordage

   He looped some cord around his fingers.

3. A small flexible electrical conductor composed of wires insulated separately or in bundles and assembled together usually with an outer cover; the electrical cord of a lamp, sweeper ((US) vacuum cleaner), or other appliance.
4. A unit of measurement for firewood, equal to 128 cubic feet (4 × 4 × 8 feet), composed of logs and/or split logs four feet long and none over eight inches diameter. It is usually seen as a stack four feet high by eight feet long.
   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Battering-ram”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 376:

     Unerringly impelling this dead, impregnable, uninjurable wall, and this most buoyant thing within; there swims behind it all a mass of tremendous life, only to be adequately estimated as piled wood is—by the cord; and all obedient to one volition, as the smallest insect.

   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, H.L. Braekstad, transl., Folk and Fairy Tales, page 187:

     "If they buy three cords of birch logs," said the witch, "but they must be exact measure and no bargaining about the price, and if they throw overboard the one cord of logs, piece by piece, when the first sea comes, and the other cord, piece by piece, when the second sea comes, and the third cord, piece by piece, when the third sea comes, then it's all over with us."

5. (figuratively) Any influence by which persons are caught, held, or drawn, as if by a cord.
   • 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “To—”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 15:

     Clear-headed friend, whose joyful scorn, / Edged with sharp laughter, cuts atwain / The knots that tangle human creeds, / The wounding cords that bind and strain / The heart until it bleeds, […]

   • 1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:

     Every detail of the house and garden was familiar; a thousand cords of memory and affection drew him thither; but a stronger counter-motive prevailed.

6. (anatomy) Any structure having the appearance of a cord, especially a tendon or nerve.

   spermatic cord; spinal cord; umbilical cord; vocal cords

7. Dated form of chord: musical sense.
8. Misspelling of chord: a cross-section measurement of an aircraft wing.

Synonyms

• (length of twisted strands): cable, twine
• (wires surrounded by an insulating coating, used to supply electricity): cable, flex
• See also Thesaurus:string

Derived terms

• bait-cord
• body cord
• bungee cord
• bungy cord
• citation cord
• communication cord
• cord-cutter
• cord-cutting
• cord factor
• cordless
• cord set
• cut the cord
• cut the umbilical cord
• detonating cord
• detonation cord
• emergency cord
• extension cord
• genital cord
• kill cord
• kook cord
• nerve cord
• nuchal cord
• power cord
• primer cord
• pull cord
• russel cord
• sash cord
• spermatic cord
• spinal cord
• trip cord
• true vocal cord
• umbilical cord
• ventral nerve cord
• vocal cord
• vocal cord nodule
• vocal cords

 

Translations

length of twisted strands

• Arabic: خَيْط‎ (ar) m (ḵayṭ), حَبْل‎ m (ḥabl)
• Aromanian: coardã f
• Assamese: জৰী (zori)
• Belarusian: вяро́ўка (be) f (vjaróŭka), шво́рка f (švórka), шнур m (šnur)
• Bulgarian: връв (bg) m (vrǎv), кана́п (bg) m (kanáp), шнур (bg) m (šnur), въже́ (bg) n (vǎžé)
• Catalan: corda (ca) f, cordill (ca) m
• Chickasaw: ishtalakchi', shtalakchi'
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 繩／绳 (zh) (shéng), 繩子／绳子 (zh) (shéngzi)

• Coptic: ⲛⲟϩ (noh)
• Crimean Tatar: şnur
• Czech: provaz (cs) m, šňůra (cs) f
• Dalmatian: canapial f
• Dutch: touw (nl) n, koord (nl) f, zeel (nl) n
• Egyptian: (nwḥ)
• Esperanto: ŝnuro (eo)
• Finnish: naru (fi)
• French: corde (fr) f
• Galician: corda (gl) f, bramante m
• German: Schnur (de) f, Kordel (de) f, Strick (de) m
• Greek: σχοινί (el) n (schoiní)

  Ancient: σχοινίον n (skhoiníon), σειρά f (seirá), θῶμιγξ f (thôminx)

• Hungarian: zsinór (hu), fonal (hu)
• Irish: ruóg f
• Italian: cordone m
• Japanese: 縄 (ja) (なわ, nawa)
• Kabuverdianu: bulina
• Korean: 밧줄 (ko) (batjul)
• Latin: fūnis m, restis f
• Latvian: virve f
• Macedonian: вр́вца f (vŕvca), вр́вка f (vŕvka), шнур m (šnur), га́јтан m (gájtan)
• Maori: kopu, taihere, kārure
• Middle English: corde, rop, teye
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tau (no) n

• Old English: sīma m
• Ottoman Turkish: ایپ‎ (ip)
• Plautdietsch: Baunt m
• Portuguese: corda (pt) f, barbante (pt) m
• Quechua: anku, watu
• Romanian: cordon (ro), coardă (ro) f
• Russian: верёвка (ru) f (verjóvka), шнур (ru) m (šnur)
• Scottish Gaelic: teud m
• Spanish: cuerda (es) f, cable (es) m, hilo (es) m, cordón (es) m
• Tocharian B: śerkw
• Ugaritic: 𐎈𐎁𐎍 (ḥbl)
• Ukrainian: шнур m (šnur), моту́зка f (motúzka), вірьо́вка f (virʹóvka), шво́рка f (švórka), шнур m (šnur)
• Zulu: intambo (zu) class 9/10

wires surrounded by a coating, used to supply electricity

• Belarusian: ка́бель m (kábjelʹ), шнур m (šnur), дрот m (drot), про́вад m (próvad)
• Bulgarian: ка́бел (bg) m (kábel), шнур (bg) m (šnur)
• Catalan: cable (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 線／线 (zh) (xiàn)

• Czech: šňůra (cs) f
• Dutch: kabel (nl) n
• Esperanto: ŝnurkonduktilo
• Finnish: johto (fi), piuha (fi)
• French: cordon (fr) m
• Galician: cable (gl) f, cabo (gl) m
• Georgian: თოკი (toḳi)
• German: Kabel (de) n, Litze (de) f, Strippe (de) f (coll.)
• Japanese: 線 (ja) (せん, sen), コード (ja) (kōdo)
• Khmer: ខ្សែ (km) (khsae)
• Korean: 선(線) (ko) (seon), 코드 (ko) (kodeu)
• Macedonian: ка́бел m (kábel), шнур m (šnur), га́јтан m (gájtan)
• Maori: taura hiko
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ledning m or f

• Portuguese: cabo (pt) m
• Romanian: cordon (ro) n, cablu (ro) n
• Russian: ка́бель (ru) m (kábelʹ), шнур (ru) m (šnur), про́вод (ru) m (próvod)
• Scottish Gaelic: teud-dealain m
• Spanish: cable (es) m
• Swedish: sladd (sv), ledning (sv), kabel (sv), tråd (sv)
• Thai: เชือก (th) (chʉ̂ʉak)
• Ukrainian: ка́бель (uk) m (kábelʹ), шнур m (šnur), дріт m (drit), про́від m (próvid)

unit of measurement for firewood

• French: corde (fr) f
• German: Cord (de) m, Klafter (de) n (circa)
• Maori: kōri
• Plautdietsch: Klauft f
• Polish: sąg (pl) m
• Swedish: famn (sv)

figurative influence

• German: Band (de) n, Faden (de) m

anatomy

• Galician: corda (gl) f
• German: Sehne (de) f, Band (de) n, Strang (de) m

Verb

cord (third-person singular simple present cords, present participle cording, simple past and past participle corded)

1. To furnish with cords
2. To tie or fasten with cords
3. To flatten a book during binding
4. To arrange (wood, etc.) in a pile for measurement by the cord.

Middle English

Noun

cord

1. Alternative form of corde

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cor, cordis.

Noun

cord n (plural corduri)

1. (anatomy) heart

   Synonym: inimă

Declension

Declension of cord

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) cord	cordul	(niște) corduri	cordurile
genitive/dative	(unui) cord	cordului	(unor) corduri	cordurilor
vocative	cordule		cordurilor

Related terms

• cordial