Concording

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The action of bringing into agreement or harmony; the process of matching or aligning elements for consistency or agreement; the state resulting from achieving mutual accord or compatibility
2. The act of reconciling differences or coordinating parts to create unity; the method of ensuring agreement among various components or ideas; the condition attained when agreement or harmony is established
3. The process of adjusting or harmonizing parts to achieve uniformity; the procedure of comparing and aligning for consistency; the result of successful cooperation or agreement among elements

Etymology: "Concording" is simply the present participle and gerund of "concord," so its story is really the story of the verb's root. That root is Latin "concors," meaning "of the same mind, agreeing," built from "con-" ("together") and "cor," "heart." Latin had "concordia" for harmony, and the word passed into French as "concorde," with the verb "concorder" coming from Latin "concordare." English took the idea from French, so "concord" carries the image of hearts beating in the same rhythm, a far more personal picture than the cold machinery of agreement we might expect. The same heart-root sits behind "accord," which the source lists as a close relative. Both words entered English from French and both describe people or things coming together, so "concord" and "accord" are sibling words that grew from one Latin stem.

Synonyms: agreeing, harmonizing

Antonyms: disagreeing, conflicting