Standard Lemma guide

coda

noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkəʊ.də/
  • Canada, General-American: /ˈkoʊ.də/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /ˈkəʉ.də/
  • Queensland Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • New-Zealand: /ˈkɐʉ.də/
  • rhymes with -əʊdə
  • homophone: coder (non-rhotic)
  • CMU ARPABET: K OW1 D AH0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A passage that brings a movement or piece to a conclusion through prolongation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: finale

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The optional final sound of a syllable or word, occurring after its nucleus and usually composed of one or more consonants.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonology, sciences

Examples

  • The word “salts” has three consonants — /l/, /t/, and /s/ — in its coda, whereas the word “glee” has no coda at all.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: auslaut

Antonyms: anlaut, onset

3

noun

Meaning 3

In seismograms, the gradual return to baseline after a seismic event. The length of the coda can be used to estimate event magnitude, and the shape sometimes reveals details of subsurface structures.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: geography, geology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A conclusion (of a statement or event, for example), final portion, tail end.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

Examples

  • 2014, Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed., National Geographic (December 2014)https://web.archive.org/web/20150212214621/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/pilgrim-roads/salopek-text In gray stormy light, their painted eyes stare out at the Mediterranean—at Homer’s wine-dark sea, at a corridor into modernity. But in memory my walk’s true coda in the Middle East came earlier.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A series of clicks used by sperm whales for communicating with each other.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

Alternative spelling of CODA.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

A person born hearing to deaf parents.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

the closing section of a musical composition

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: finale

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: conclusion, end, close, closing, ending

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian coda (literally “tail”), from Latin cauda. Doublet of queue and cola.

Acronym of child of deaf adults.

Across languages

Translations

53 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: coda — music
  • Chinese Mandarin: 尾聲 /尾声 (wěishēng) — music
  • Finnish: kooda — music
  • Galician: coda — music
  • German: Koda — music
  • German: Coda — music
  • German: Ausklang — music
  • Greek: κόντα (kónta) — music
  • Hungarian: kóda — music
  • Indonesian: koda — music
  • Japanese: コーダ (kōda) — music
  • Macedonian: ко́да (kóda) — music
  • Māori: whakakapinga — music
  • Russian: ко́да (kóda) — music
  • Russian: фина́л (finál) — music
  • Spanish: coda — music
  • Arabic: خَاتِمَة (ḵātimah) — linguistics
  • Catalan: coda — linguistics
  • Chinese Mandarin: 韻尾 /韵尾 (yùnwěi) — linguistics
  • Danish: baglyd — linguistics
  • Danish: efterlyd — linguistics
  • Danish: udlyd — linguistics
  • Esperanto: vosto — linguistics
  • Finnish: kooda — linguistics
  • Finnish: loppuäänne — linguistics
  • French: coda — linguistics
  • Galician: coda — linguistics
  • German: Koda — linguistics
  • German: Auslaut — linguistics
  • German: Silbenauslaut — linguistics
  • German: Silbenkoda — linguistics
  • Hungarian: szótagzárlat — linguistics
  • Hungarian: kóda — linguistics
  • Indonesian: koda — linguistics
  • Italian: coda — linguistics
  • Japanese: 末尾子音 (matsubishiin) — linguistics
  • Macedonian: завр́шеток (zavŕšetok) — linguistics
  • Persian: پایانه (pâyâne) — linguistics
  • Polish: wygłos — linguistics
  • Portuguese: coda — linguistics
  • Russian: ко́да (kóda) — linguistics
  • Russian: коне́чный звук (konéčnyj zvuk) — linguistics
  • Russian: термина́ль (terminálʹ) — linguistics
  • Spanish: coda — linguistics
  • Swedish: koda — linguistics
  • Swedish: slutljud — linguistics
  • Zhuang: yinhbyai — linguistics
  • Finnish: kooda — geology
  • Polish: powrót do normalnego poziomu — geology
  • Finnish: loppu — figurative
  • German: Abschluss — figurative
  • German: Schluss — figurative
  • German: Endpunkt — figurative