cacophony

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 30, 2010 is: cacophony • \ka-KAH-fuh-nee\  • noun : harsh or discordant sound : dissonance; specifically : harshness in the sound of words or phrases Examples: Feedback from the microphone produced an awful, shrieking cacophony equivalent to the sound of nails scratching on a blackboard. "Imagine a tent full of celebrities, artists and art patrons dressed in their designer best -- Eli Broad, Frank Gehry, Jeff Koons, Gwen Stefani and more -- submitting to a cacophony of farm auctioneers calling, cattle ranchers whipping and drummers drumming." -- From an article by Booth Moore, describing a gala fundraiser, in the Los Angeles Times, November 15, 2010 Did you know? Words that descend from the Greek word "phōnē" are making noise in English. Why? Because "phōnē" means "sound" or "voice." "Cacophony" comes from a joining of the Greek prefix "kak-," meaning "bad," with "phōnē", so it essentially means "bad sound." "Symphony," a word that indicates harmony or agreement in sound, traces to "phōnē" and the Greek prefix "syn-," which means "together." "Polyphony" refers to a style of musical composition in which two or more independent melodies are juxtaposed in harmony, and it comes from a combination of "phōnē" and the Greek prefix "poly-," meaning "many." And "euphony," a word for a pleasing or sweet sound, combines "phōnē" with "eu-," a prefix that means "good." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.