Euphony

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈjuːfəni/

Definitions

1. The quality of having a pleasing or harmonious sound, especially in the arrangement of words or musical tones
2. Pleasing and harmonious acoustic qualities produced by the arrangement of sounds or words
3. The characteristic of sounding agreeable and melodious through skillful combination of tones or linguistic elements

Etymology: Greek speakers built "euphony" from two ordinary parts: "eu," meaning "good" or "well," and "phōnē," meaning "sound," "voice," or even "speech." Put together, "euphōnia" described a pleasing sound, and the Greek suffix "-ia" turned it into an abstract noun for the quality itself. The word passed into French as "euphonie" before English borrowed it. What makes the word easy to recognise is how many relatives it has in English. The same "phōnē" root sits inside "telephone," "symphony," "phonetics," and "microphone," so "euphony" is essentially a good-sounding member of that family. Its opposite, "cacophony," is built from the Greek "kakos," meaning "bad," in the same pattern.

Synonyms: melody, harmony, sweetness, tunefulness, lilt

Antonyms: cacophony, discord, dissonance, harshness, noise