harmonia

See also: Harmonia, harmónia, harmonía, and harmonią

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ᾰ̔ρμονῐ́ᾱ (hărmonĭ́ā). Doublet of harmony.

Pronunciation

• enPR: här-mō′nē-ə
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /hɑːˈməʊ̯.niː.ə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /hɑɹˈmoʊ̯.ni.ə/
• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /hɐːˈmɐʉ̯.niː.ə/; (also General Australian) /hɐːˈməʉ̯.niː.ə/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /haɹˈmo.ni.ə/, /haɹˈmo.ni.ʌ/
• (India) IPA^(key): /hɑː(ɾ)ˈmoː.niː.a/
• Rhymes: -əʊniə
• Hyphenation: har‧mo‧ni‧a

Noun

harmonia (plural harmonias or harmoniai)

2. (music) A harmonic mode in ancient Greek music, characterized by a particular set of chords and rhythmic patterns.
   • 1949, Harry Partch, Genesis of a Music: Monophony: the Relation of Its Music to Historic and Contemporary Trends; Its Philosophy, Concepts, and Principles; Its Relation to Historic and Proposed Intonations; and Its Application to Musical Instruments, The University of Wisconsin Press, pages 320 and 323:

     […] concerning the ancient Greek harmoniai, or modes, in the diatonic genus. […] degree signify the harmonia in which it appears and what degree it represents; for instance, “D-2” means that this ratio—11/10—is the second degree (ascending) in the Dorian harmonia.

   • 1991, 1/1: The Quarterly Journal of the Just Intonation Network, pages 4 and 5:

     In the case of Mixolydian harmonia, the framework chord is ¹⁄₁, ¹⁴⁄₁₁, ¹⁴⁄₁₀, and ²⁄₁. […] while the various diatonic harmoniai are modes of each other, this is not true of the other two genera, which are uniquely derived from their corresponding diatonic forms.

   • 1993, John H. Chalmers, Jr., Divisions of the Tetrachord: A Prolegomenon to the Construction of Musical Scales, →ISBN, page 146:

     In 1935, Hamilton trained a chamber orchestra in Stuttgart to perform in the harmoniai.

   • 1999, Thomas J. Mathiesen, Apollo’s Lyre: Greek Music and Music Theory in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Lincoln, Neb.; London: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN, page 183:

     While Pollux attributed to Diodorus of Thebes the expansion of the aulos beyond four trupemata, Athenaeus and Pausanias refer to Pronomus of Thebes as the one who developed an aulos that was capable of playing aulema in Dorian, Phrygian, or Lydian harmoniai. In his description of a statue of Pronomus in Boeotia, Pausanias observes: For a time, auletes had three types of auloi. They played Dorian aulema on one, different auloi were made for pieces in the Phrygian harmonia, and the so-called Lydian aulema was played on other auloi.

   • 2020, Edward Nowacki, Greek and Latin Music Theory: Principles and Challenges, University of Rochester Press, →ISBN, page 18:

     That rhythm was somehow implicated in the identity of the harmoniai is suggested in Aristotle’s anecdote about the composer Philoxenus, who attempted to compose a dithyramb, The Mysians, in the Dorian harmonia, but was unable to do so.

4. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:) (philosophy) The soul regarded as a harmonious blend of the parts of the physical body.

   Socrates argued against the idea of the soul being a harmonia.

Further reading

• “harmonia”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Catalan

Alternative forms

• harmònia

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin harmonia, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̔ρμονῐ́ᾱ (hărmonĭ́ā).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ər.muˈni.ə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [aɾ.moˈni.a]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ia
• Hyphenation: har‧mo‧ni‧a

Noun

harmonia f (plural harmonies)

1. harmony (agreement or accord)
2. (music) harmony (the academic study of chords)

Related terms

• harmònic

Further reading

• “harmonia”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “harmonia”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “harmonia” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “harmonia”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Esperanto

Etymology

From harmonio (“harmony”, noun) +‎ -a (adjectival suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /harmoˈnia/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ia
• Syllabification: har‧mo‧ni‧a
• Hyphenation: harmoni‧a

Adjective

harmonia (accusative singular harmonian, plural harmoniaj, accusative plural harmoniajn)

1. harmonious (showing accord)

   Synonym: akorda

   • 1910, Eliza Orzeszkowa, chapter 3, in L. L. Zamenhof, transl., Marta [Martha]‎^[1], 2. edition (fiction), quoted in ReVo, Parizo: Esperantista Centra Librejo, published 1924, archived from the original on 1 July 2022:

     […] ŝi kudris diligente, levante kaj mallevante la manon en harmonia takto kun la dudek manoj, […].

     [original: […] zszywała pilnie, podnosząc i w dół opuszczając rękę w jednozgodny takt z dwudziestu rękami, […].]

     […] she was sewing diligently, raising and lowering her hand in harmonious measure with twenty other hands […].

   • 1910, L. L. Zamenhof, “Ŝ”, in C. Rogister, editor, Proverbaro Esperanta [Esperanto Proverbs]‎^[2], 4. edition, quoted in ReVo, La Laguna: Stafeto, published 1974, archived from the original on 1 July 2022:

     Ŝafaro harmonia lupon ne timas.

     A harmonious flock of sheep does not fear the wolf.

Further reading

• “harmonia”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɑrmoniɑ/, [ˈhɑ̝rmo̞ˌniɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -iɑ
• Syllabification^(key): har‧mo‧ni‧a
• Hyphenation^(key): har‧mo‧nia

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin harmonia, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̔ρμονῐ́ᾱ (hărmonĭ́ā).

Noun

harmonia

1. harmony (agreement or accord)

   Synonym: sopusointu

2. harmony (pleasing combination of elements, or arrangement of sounds)

   Synonym: sopusointu

Declension

Inflection of harmonia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)
nominative		harmonia	harmoniat
genitive		harmonian	harmonioiden harmonioitten
partitive		harmoniaa	harmonioita
illative		harmoniaan	harmonioihin
		singular	plural
nominative		harmonia	harmoniat
accusative	nom.	harmonia	harmoniat
	gen.	harmonian
genitive		harmonian	harmonioiden harmonioitten harmoniain rare
partitive		harmoniaa	harmonioita
inessive		harmoniassa	harmonioissa
elative		harmoniasta	harmonioista
illative		harmoniaan	harmonioihin
adessive		harmonialla	harmonioilla
ablative		harmonialta	harmonioilta
allative		harmonialle	harmonioille
essive		harmoniana	harmonioina
translative		harmoniaksi	harmonioiksi
abessive		harmoniatta	harmonioitta
instructive		—	harmonioin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of harmonia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative harmoniani harmoniani accusative nom. harmoniani harmoniani gen. harmoniani genitive harmoniani harmonioideni harmonioitteni harmoniaini rare partitive harmoniaani harmonioitani inessive harmoniassani harmonioissani elative harmoniastani harmonioistani illative harmoniaani harmonioihini adessive harmoniallani harmonioillani ablative harmonialtani harmonioiltani allative harmonialleni harmonioilleni essive harmonianani harmonioinani translative harmoniakseni harmonioikseni abessive harmoniattani harmonioittani instructive — — comitative — harmonioineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative harmoniasi harmoniasi accusative nom. harmoniasi harmoniasi gen. harmoniasi genitive harmoniasi harmonioidesi harmonioittesi harmoniaisi rare partitive harmoniaasi harmonioitasi inessive harmoniassasi harmonioissasi elative harmoniastasi harmonioistasi illative harmoniaasi harmonioihisi adessive harmoniallasi harmonioillasi ablative harmonialtasi harmonioiltasi allative harmoniallesi harmonioillesi essive harmonianasi harmonioinasi translative harmoniaksesi harmonioiksesi abessive harmoniattasi harmonioittasi instructive — — comitative — harmonioinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative harmoniamme harmoniamme accusative nom. harmoniamme harmoniamme gen. harmoniamme genitive harmoniamme harmonioidemme harmonioittemme harmoniaimme rare partitive harmoniaamme harmonioitamme inessive harmoniassamme harmonioissamme elative harmoniastamme harmonioistamme illative harmoniaamme harmonioihimme adessive harmoniallamme harmonioillamme ablative harmonialtamme harmonioiltamme allative harmoniallemme harmonioillemme essive harmonianamme harmonioinamme translative harmoniaksemme harmonioiksemme abessive harmoniattamme harmonioittamme instructive — — comitative — harmonioinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative harmonianne harmonianne accusative nom. harmonianne harmonianne gen. harmonianne genitive harmonianne harmonioidenne harmonioittenne harmoniainne rare partitive harmoniaanne harmonioitanne inessive harmoniassanne harmonioissanne elative harmoniastanne harmonioistanne illative harmoniaanne harmonioihinne adessive harmoniallanne harmonioillanne ablative harmonialtanne harmonioiltanne allative harmoniallenne harmonioillenne essive harmoniananne harmonioinanne translative harmoniaksenne harmonioiksenne abessive harmoniattanne harmonioittanne instructive — — comitative — harmonioinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative harmoniansa harmoniansa accusative nom. harmoniansa harmoniansa gen. harmoniansa genitive harmoniansa harmonioidensa harmonioittensa harmoniainsa rare partitive harmoniaansa harmonioitaan harmonioitansa inessive harmoniassaan harmoniassansa harmonioissaan harmonioissansa elative harmoniastaan harmoniastansa harmonioistaan harmonioistansa illative harmoniaansa harmonioihinsa adessive harmoniallaan harmoniallansa harmonioillaan harmonioillansa ablative harmonialtaan harmonialtansa harmonioiltaan harmonioiltansa allative harmonialleen harmoniallensa harmonioilleen harmonioillensa essive harmonianaan harmonianansa harmonioinaan harmonioinansa translative harmoniakseen harmoniaksensa harmonioikseen harmonioiksensa abessive harmoniattaan harmoniattansa harmonioittaan harmonioittansa instructive — — comitative — harmonioineen harmonioinensa

Derived terms

• harmoniikka
• harmonioida

compounds

• harmoniaoppi
• vokaaliharmonia

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

harmonia

1. partitive singular of harmoni

Further reading

• “harmonia”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 1 July 2023

Anagrams

• harmiona

Galician

Noun

harmonia f (plural harmonias, reintegrationist norm)

1. reintegrationist spelling of harmonía

Further reading

• “harmonia”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ᾰ̔ρμονῐ́ᾱ (hărmonĭ́ā).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [harˈmɔ.ni.a]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [arˈmɔː.ni.a]
• Hyphenation: har‧mo‧ni‧a

Noun

harmonia f (genitive harmoniae); first declension

1. harmony, concordance of sounds
2. music, singing, song
3. peace, concord

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	harmonia	harmoniae
genitive	harmoniae	harmoniārum
dative	harmoniae	harmoniīs
accusative	harmoniam	harmoniās
ablative	harmoniā	harmoniīs
vocative	harmonia	harmoniae

Descendants

• → Catalan: harmonia
• → Galician: harmonía
• → Italian: armonia
• → Old French: harmonie
  • French: harmonie
    • → Romanian: armonie
    • → Turkish: harmoni, armoni
  • → English: harmony
  • → Irish: armóin
• → Occitan: armonia
• → Portuguese: harmonia
• → Sicilian: armunìa
• → Spanish: armonía

References

• “harmonia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “harmonia”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “harmonia”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “harmonia”, in The Perseus Project (1999), Perseus Encyclopedia‎^[4]
• “harmonia”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “harmonia”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray

Further reading

• R. E. Latham, D. R. Howlett, & R. K. Ashdowne, editors (1975–2013), “harmonia”, in Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources‎^[5], London: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, →ISBN, →OCLC

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xarˈmɔɲ.ja/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔɲja
• Syllabification: har‧mon‧ia
• Homophone: Harmonia

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Ancient Greek ᾰ̔ρμονῐ́ᾱ (hărmonĭ́ā)bor.

Latin harmonialbor.

Polish harmonia

Learned borrowing from Latin harmonia. First attested in 1564. Etymology 1 sense 5 is a semantic loan from Ukrainian гармо́нь (harmónʹ).

Noun

harmonia f

1. (uncountable) harmony (agreement or accord)

   Antonym: dysharmonia

   harmonia kolorów ― harmony of colors

2. (uncountable) harmony (pleasing combination of elements, or arrangement of sounds)

   Antonym: dysharmonia

   harmonia w domu ― harmony at home

3. (uncountable, music) harmony, consonance (agreement; absence of discordance)

   Synonym: harmonika

   Hypernyms: nauka, przedmiot

   • 1976, Jan Prosnak, Polihymnia ucząca. Wychowanie muzyczne w Polsce od średniowiecza do dni dzisiejszych [Polyhymnia Teaching. Music Education in Poland from the Middle Ages to the Present Day]‎^[6], 1. edition (non-fiction), quoted in WSJP, Warszawa: Wydaw[nictw]-a Szkolne i Pedagogiczne, published 1976, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 90:

     Program nauki obejmował następujące przedmioty: zasady muzyki, harmonię i kontrapunkt, historię muzyki i estetykę, czytanie nut głosem (solfeż), […].

     The curriculum included the following subjects: music theory, harmony and counterpoint, music history and aesthetics, sight-singing (solfège), […].

   • 1990, Józef Michał Chomiński, “Historia harmonii i kontrapunktu [The History of Harmony and Counterpoint]”, in PWM Edition‎^[7] (bookstore), quoted in WSJP, archived from the original on 1 March 2026:

     Publikacja jest najobszerniejszym polskim studium poświęconym historii harmonii i kontrapunktu.

     This publication is the most comprehensive Polish study dedicated to the history of harmony and counterpoint.

   • 2005, Bohdan Pociej, Bycie w muzyce. Próba opisania twórczości Henryka Mikołaja Góreckiego [Being in Music. An Attempted Description of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki's Creative Output] (Biblioteka Katowicka; 26)‎^[8] (non-fiction), quoted in WSJP, Katowice: Akademia Muzyczna im[ienia]. Karola Szymanowskiego, published 2005, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 184:

     Wiedza o konsonansie — interwałach, współbrzmieniach konsonansowych — stanowiła rdzeń nauki harmonii.

     Knowledge of consonance — intervals and consonant sonorities — formed the core of the study of harmony.

4. (uncountable, prosody) consonance (form of rhyme having the same consonants but different vowels)
6. (countable, music) concertina (musical instrument, like the various accordions, that is a member of the free-reed family of musical instruments, typically having buttons on both ends)

   Synonyms: harmoszka, koncertyna

8. (countable, music, proscribed) synonym of akordeon (“accordion”) (box-shaped musical instrument with means of keys and buttons, whose tones are generated by play of the wind from a squeezed bellows upon free metallic reeds)

Declension

Declension of harmonia

	singular	plural
nominative	harmonia	harmonie
genitive	harmonii	harmonii/harmonij (archaic)
dative	harmonii	harmoniom
accusative	harmonię	harmonie
instrumental	harmonią	harmoniami
locative	harmonii	harmoniach
vocative	harmonio	harmonie

Alternative forms

• harmonija, armonia (Middle Polish)
• harmonja (pre-reform orthography (1936))
• jarmonijá (Western Lublin, Kurów)
• armonija (“harmonica”) (Near Masovian, Jakusze)

Derived terms

adjectives

• harmonijny

nouns

• harmonijka

Related terms

adjectives

• harmonijkowy

adverbs

• harmonijkowo
• harmonijnie

nouns

• harmonijność
• harmonika
• harmonista
• harmonistka

Descendants

• → Russian: гармо́ния (garmónija)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

harmonia

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of harmonium

Further reading

• “harmonia”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[9] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “harmonia”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[10] (in Polish)
• harmonia in PWN's encyclopedia
• Maria Renata Mayenowa; Stanisław Rospond; Witold Taszycki; Stefan Hrabec; Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023), “harmonija”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• “HARMONIA”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 3 March 2020
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1808), “harmonia”, in Słownik języka polskiego, volume 1b, page 822
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “harmonja”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861, volume I, page 394
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1902), “harmonja”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 2, Warsaw, page 19
• harmonia in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego
• Woliński, Marcin; Saloni, Zygmunt; Wołosz, Robert; Gruszczyński, Włodzimierz; Skowrońska, Danuta; Bronk, Zbigniew (2020), “harmonia”, in Słownik gramatyczny języka polskiego [Grammatical Dictionary of Polish]‎^[11], 4. online edition, Warszawa

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin harmonia, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̔ρμονῐ́ᾱ (hărmonĭ́ā, “joint, union, agreement, concord of sounds”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aʁ.moˈni.ɐ/ [aɦ.moˈni.ɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aʁ.moˈni.ɐ/ [aɦ.moˈni.ɐ]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /aɾ.moˈni.ɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /aʁ.moˈni.ɐ/
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /aɻ.moˈni.ɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /aʁ.moˈni.a/ [aɦ.moˈni.a]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐɾ.muˈni.ɐ/

• Rhymes: (Brazil, Portugal) -iɐ
• Hyphenation: har‧mo‧ni‧a

Noun

harmonia f (plural harmonias)

1. (uncountable) harmony; agreement; accord

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:harmonia

   Antonyms: see Thesaurus:harmonia

2. harmony (pleasing arrangement of sounds)

   Synonyms: melodia, sinfonia

   Antonyms: cacofonia, dissonância, desafinação

Derived terms

• harmonia consonantal
• harmonia vocálica

Related terms

• harmônica
• harmônico
• harmônio
• harmonioso
• harmonista
• harmonizador
• harmonizar

Further reading

• “harmonia”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “harmonia” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “harmonia”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “harmonia”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026