Standard Lemma guide

symphony

noun · 6 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.

  • /ˈsɪm.fə.ni/
  • [ˈsɪɱ.fə.nɪi̯]
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S IH1 M F AH0 N IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An extended piece of music of sophisticated structure, usually for orchestra.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • classical symphony
  • compose a symphony
  • full symphony orchestra
  • The orchestra performed Beethoven’s Fifth symphony.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An instrumental introduction or termination to a vocal composition.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Harmony in music or colour, or a harmonious combination of elements.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • She described the city at night as a symphony of lights and sounds.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A symphony orchestra.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, countable, informal, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a long and complex sonata for symphony orchestra

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: symphonic music

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: sonata

6

noun

Meaning 6

a large orchestra; can perform symphonies

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • we heard the Vienna symphony

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: symphony orchestra, philharmonic

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: orchestra

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱómder.? Proto-Indo-European *sem-der.? Proto-Hellenic *ksún Ancient Greek σύν (sún) Ancient Greek σῠν- (sŭn-) Proto-Indo-European *bheh2-der. Proto-Hellenic *phōnā́ Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ) Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek σῠ́μφωνος (sŭ́mphōnos) Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh2 Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) ▲ Ancient Greek σῠν- (sŭn-) ▲ Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ) ▲ Ancient Greek -ίᾱ (-íā) Ancient Greek -φωνίᾱ (-phōníā) Ancient Greek σῠμφωνῐ́ᾱ (sŭmphōnĭ́ā)der. Latin symphōniader. Old French simphonieder. Middle English symphonye English symphony From Middle English symphonye, from Old French simphonie, from Latin symphonia, from Ancient Greek συμφωνία (sumphōnía). By surface analysis, sym- + -phony. Doublet of sinfonia, symphonia, tsampouna, and zampogna.

Across languages

Translations

83 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: simfoni — piece of orchestral music
  • Arabic: سِيمْفُونِيَّة (sīmfūniyya) — piece of orchestral music
  • Arabic: سِيمْفُونِي (sīmfūnī) — piece of orchestral music
  • Armenian: սիմֆոնիա (simfonia) — piece of orchestral music
  • Armenian: համանուագ (hamanuag) — piece of orchestral music
  • Azerbaijani: simfoniya — piece of orchestral music
  • Belarusian: сімфо́нія (simfónija) — piece of orchestral music
  • Bengali: সিম্ফনি (śimphoni) — piece of orchestral music
  • Bulgarian: симфо́ния (simfónija) — piece of orchestral music
  • Burmese: ဆင်ဖိုနီ (hcanghpuini) — piece of orchestral music
  • Catalan: simfonia — piece of orchestral music
  • Chinese Cantonese: 交響曲 /交响曲 (gaau1 hoeng2 kuk1) — piece of orchestral music
  • Chinese: 交響曲 /交响曲 (zh-min-nan) — piece of orchestral music
  • Chinese Mandarin: 交響曲 /交响曲 (jiāoxiǎngqǔ) — piece of orchestral music
  • Czech: symfonie — piece of orchestral music
  • Danish: symfoni — piece of orchestral music
  • Dutch: symfonie — piece of orchestral music
  • Esperanto: simfonio — piece of orchestral music
  • Estonian: sümfoonia — piece of orchestral music
  • Farefare: simfonia — piece of orchestral music
  • Finnish: sinfonia — piece of orchestral music
  • French: symphonie — piece of orchestral music
  • Friulian: sinfonie — piece of orchestral music
  • Georgian: სიმფონია (simponia) — piece of orchestral music
  • German: Sinfonie — piece of orchestral music
  • German: Symphonie — piece of orchestral music
  • Greek: συμφωνία (symfonía) — piece of orchestral music
  • Hebrew: סִימפוֹנִיָה (simfónya) — piece of orchestral music
  • Hindi: सिंफ़नी (sĩfanī) — piece of orchestral music
  • Hindi: सिम्फ़नी (simfanī) — piece of orchestral music
  • Hindi: स्वर की समता (svar kī samtā) — piece of orchestral music
  • Hungarian: szimfónia — piece of orchestral music
  • Icelandic: sinfónía — piece of orchestral music
  • Irish: siansa — piece of orchestral music
  • Italian: sinfonia — piece of orchestral music
  • Japanese: 交響曲 (kōkyōkyoku) — piece of orchestral music
  • Kazakh: симфония (simfoniä) — piece of orchestral music
  • Khmer: ស៊ីមហ្វូនី (siimfounii) — piece of orchestral music
  • Korean: 교향곡 (gyohyanggok) — piece of orchestral music
  • Korean: 심포니 (simponi) — piece of orchestral music
  • Northern Kurdish: senfonî — piece of orchestral music
  • Kyrgyz: симфония (simfoniya) — piece of orchestral music
  • Latvian: simfonija — piece of orchestral music
  • Latvian: simfōnija — piece of orchestral music
  • Lithuanian: simfonija — piece of orchestral music
  • Macedonian: симфонија (simfonija) — piece of orchestral music
  • Malay: simfoni — piece of orchestral music
  • Māori: puoro tuatini — piece of orchestral music
  • Mongolian: симфони (simfoni) — piece of orchestral music
  • Mongolian: ᠰᠢᠮᠹᠣᠨᠢ (simfoni) — piece of orchestral music
  • Norwegian Bokmål: symfoni — piece of orchestral music
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: symfoni — piece of orchestral music
  • Pashto: سمفوني (samfoni) — piece of orchestral music
  • Pashto: سيمفوني (simfoni) — piece of orchestral music
  • Persian: سمفونی (samfoni) — piece of orchestral music
  • Piedmontese: sinfonìa — piece of orchestral music
  • Polish: symfonia — piece of orchestral music
  • Portuguese: sinfonia — piece of orchestral music
  • Punjabi: ਸਿੰਫਨੀ (simphnī) — piece of orchestral music
  • Romanian: simfonie — piece of orchestral music
  • Russian: симфо́ния (simfónija) — piece of orchestral music
  • Serbo-Croatian: сѝмфо̄нија — piece of orchestral music
  • Serbo-Croatian: sìmfōnija — piece of orchestral music
  • Slovak: symfónia — piece of orchestral music
  • Slovene: simfonija — piece of orchestral music
  • Spanish: sinfonía — piece of orchestral music
  • Swedish: symfoni — piece of orchestral music
  • Tajik: симфония (simfoniya) — piece of orchestral music
  • Tatar: симфония (simfoniyä) — piece of orchestral music
  • Thai: ซิมโฟนี (sim-foo-nîi) — piece of orchestral music
  • Turkish: senfoni — piece of orchestral music
  • Turkmen: simfoniýa — piece of orchestral music
  • Ukrainian: симфо́нія (symfónija) — piece of orchestral music
  • Urdu: ہَم نَوائی (ham-navāī) — piece of orchestral music
  • Urdu: سِمْفَنی (simfanī) — piece of orchestral music
  • Uyghur: سىمفونىيە (simfoniye) — piece of orchestral music
  • Uzbek: simfoniya — piece of orchestral music
  • Vietnamese: giao hưởng — piece of orchestral music
  • Volapük: sümfon — piece of orchestral music
  • Volapük: kobolestukot — piece of orchestral music
  • Volapük: cilasümfon — piece of orchestral music
  • Welsh: symffoni — piece of orchestral music
  • Yiddish: סימפֿאָניע (simfonye) — piece of orchestral music
Real reading context

symphony in complete knowledge articles