Concinnare

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To arrange or fit elements together harmoniously, emphasizing balance and subtlety in design or form
2. Creating a pleasing and coherent whole through skillful organization and integration of parts
3. The act of crafting or composing with elegance to achieve aesthetic unity in a piece of art or literature

Etymology: Cicero, the Roman orator, prized a quality he called "concinnitas," the sense that the parts of a sentence fit together with balanced, pleasing rhythm. The verb "concinnare" grows from the same root, the adjective "concinnus," which described things that were neatly joined or well put together. Its sense was practical and physical before it was aesthetic: to fit parts into a whole, to join or arrange them so they sit properly. English borrowed the family of words from Latin later. "Concinnity," meaning elegant harmony or fitness of parts, appeared in the 1600s, and the verb "concinnate" is an even rarer English descendant. The modern gloss about crafting art with aesthetic unity is a later extension of the Latin idea of well-fitted parts. The exact internal origin of "concinnus" is uncertain, so its ultimate ancestry is best left unresolved.