Misharmonize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To combine musical notes or voices in a way that produces discordant or unpleasant results
2. To arrange or blend sounds so that they clash rather than fit together agreeably
3. To fail at creating harmony, so that tones, parts or elements sound out of tune with one another

Etymology: "Misharmonize" is formed from the prefix "mis-" plus "harmonize," so the history of the whole word is essentially the history of its base. "Harmonize" comes from the Late Latin "harmonizare," which in turn was borrowed from Greek "harmonizein," meaning to put together in agreement or to be in tune. The Greek root "harmonia" originally meant a joining or fitting together, as in the way pieces of a carpentry joint or the planks of a ship fit snugly, before it came to mean a pleasing arrangement of sounds. English adopted "harmonize" in the 1600s, with the sense of making parts agree or sound pleasantly together. The prefix "mis-" is an Old English element meaning "wrongly" or "badly," found in older words like "misjudge" and "misspell," and it attaches freely to verbs. "Misharmonize," meaning to arrange or combine so that the parts clash, is a transparent formation of this kind, and it is recorded mainly in later and more technical or literary usage rather than as an old, established word.

Synonyms: clash, discord

Antonyms: harmonize, attune