choragic 
Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, Athens. 
tiful example, the monument of Lysicrates, dating from 
335-4 B. <'.. survives, and is one of the earliest authentic 
examples of the Corinthian order, 
choragus, choregus (ko-ra'-, ko-re'gus), n. ; pi. 
choragi, choreai (-ji). [< L. ohoroflts. < Gr. ^opr/yof, 
Doric and Attic ^opayof, a leader of the chorus, < 
Xo/>6$, chorus,+ t/yciadat, lead.] 1. In Gr. antiq., 
the leader or superintendent of a chorus; the 
superintendent of a theatrical representation at 
Athens. One choragus from each trilre had to provide 
at Ilia own expense for the equipment and instruction of 
the choruses for tragedies and comedies on the occasion 
of various religious festivals. He was chosen by election, 
and the office, though very onerous, was held to l>e one of 
great honor. 
2. Hence, figuratively, any conductor or lead- 
er, as of an entertainment or festival. 
God, who is the great Choragus and Master of the scenes 
of lifeand death, was not pleased then todrawthecurtains. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), II. 78. 
Petrarch was the first chomifu* of that sentimental dance 
which so long led young folks away from the realities of 
life, like the piper of Hamelin. 
Lowell, Fireside Travels, p. 155. 
3. [ML.] Eccles., an officer who superintends 
the musical details of divine service. The name 
and office are still retained in the University of 
Oxford. F. G. Lee. 
choragy, choregy (kor'a-ji, -e-ji),. [< L. as 
if "choragia, choregia, < Gr. xoprryia, < xPV7^f> 
Xopa) of, a choragus: see choragus."] In ancient 
Athens, the office and ceremonial duties, or lit- 
urgy, of a choragus. 
chorah (cho'ra), . A long straight knife used 
by the Afghans. Whitworth. 
choral (ko'ral), a. and n. [= F. choral = Sp. 
Pg. coral = It. corah, < ML. choralis, < L. chorus, 
chorus, choir : see chorus, choir."] I. a. 1. Per- 
taining to or characteristic of a chorus or a 
choir; performed in rhythmic concert, as music 
or dancing. 
Soft tunings, intermix'd with voice 
Choral or unison. Milton, P. L., vii. 599. 
A star that with the choral starry dance 
Join'd not. Tenmjuon, Palace of Art. 
2. In music, specifically, pertaining to or de- 
signed for concerted vocal, as distinguished 
from instrumental, performance : as, Mendels- 
sohn's choral works. 
The wild and barbaric melody which gives so striking an 
effect to the choral passages. Macaulay. 
Choral notes, the square characters, or notae quadrata, 
used in early Christian music to represent the tones of 
melodies to be sung. Choral service, a church service 
which is musically rendered, principally by the choir. 
Choral Vicar. See vicar choral, under vicar. 
II. n. 1. A simple musical composition in 
harmony, suited for performance by a chorus. 
Often written chorale. 2. A tune written or 
arranged for a sacred hymn or psalm ; specifi- 
cally, such a tune written in the style of the 
hymn-tunes of the early Protestant churches, 
both Lutheran and Reformed, having a plain 
melody, a strong harmony, and a stately rhythm. 
3. In the Bom. Cath. Ch., any part of the ser- 
vice which is sung by the whole choir (cantus 
choralis), generally consisting of a part of the 
ancient church music (cantus firmus), sung in 
unison, or more frequently sung by the tenor, 
while a greater freedom is allowed in the parts. 
choral-book (ko'ral-buk), . A collection of 
chorals or hymn-tunes. 
chorale, . See choral, 1. 
choraleon (ko-ra'le-on), n. [< choral + -eon, 
as in melodeon."] A musical instrument of the 
organ kind, having metal pipes, invented in 
980 
Warsaw in 1825 : so called because intended to 
accompany choral singing in churches. Also 
called aiolodion, (eolodicon, and a i ol<mn'lodicon. 
choralist (ko'ral-ist), . [< choral + -ist.] 1. 
A singer or composer of choral music. 2. A 
member of a church choir. 
chorally (ko'ral-i), adv. In the manner of a 
chorus; so as to be adapted to a choir. 
choraula (ko-ra'la), n . ; pi. choraulai (-le). [NL., 
< Gr. x!>^ i chorus, choir, + aitiq, > L. aula, hall.] 
In some European churches, (a) the hall or 
room in which choir-boys rehearse ; (b) a space 
behind the high altar where certain liturgical 
exercises are sung. 
chord (kord), n. [Same word as cord (and some- 
times, and formerly regularly, so spelled ; but 
the spelling chord, after the L., is now conven- 
tionally preferred for the technical senses given 
below) ; < L. chorda, < Gr. xopfiri, the string of a 
musical instrument: see cord 1 .] 1. A string; 
a cord. Specifically 2. The string of a musi- 
cal instrument. 
Love took up the harp of Life, and smote on all the chonln 
with might. Tennyson, Locksley Hall. 
3f. A musical tone. 4. In music, the simul- 
taneous sounding of three or more tones ; spe- 
cifically, the sounding of three or more tones 
that are concordant with one another. A mm /<. 
chord or triad consists of any tone with its third and tifth. 
18 
^^^-1 
' I 
11 
Musical Chords. 
. Diminished. 5. Of the 
7, 8, Imperfect. 9, 10. Inverted, n. 
j. Augmented. 
6. Of the ninth. 
i. Major. 
seventh. ( _ _ _. 
Relative. 12. Equivocal. 
A Major chord is one having a major third and a perfect 
fifth ; a minor chord, one having a minor third and a per- 
fect fifth ; a diminished chord, one having a minor third 
and a diminished fifth ; and an augmented chord, one 
having a major third and an augmented fifth. Dimin- 
ished and augmented chorda are also called anomalous. 
A chord of the seventh, or seventh-chord, consists of any 
tone with its third, fifth, and seventh ; a chord of the ninth 
contains also the ninth. (See ninth.) The tones of a chord 
are arranged for analysis at intervals of a third from one 
another ; and wheii so arranged, the lowest tone ia called the 
root of the chord. When all the tones of the chord are not 
present, it is imperfect or incomplete ; when the tones arc 
so arranged that the root is not the lowest, the chord is t- 
verted. Inverted chords are known by the numerals indi- 
cating the intervals between the lowest tone and the others : 
as, chords of the sixth, of the fourth and sixth, of the fifth 
and sixth, of the second, etc. The tonic or fundamental 
chord is the triad whose root is the tonic or key-note ; the 
1 1" in i mint or leading chord, that whose root is the dominant 
(fifth tone of the scale) ; the subdominant chord, that whose 
root is the subdominant (fourth tone of the scale), etc. 
Chords are related or relative to each other when they con- 
tain common tones. A transient chord is one used to con- 
nect two keys or tonalities, and containing tones foreign 
to both. An equivocal chord is one which maybe resolved 
into different keys without changing any of its tones. 
Hence 5. Harmony, as of color. 
The sweet and solemn harmony of purple with various 
greens the same, by the by, to which the hills of Scotland 
owe their best loveliness remained a favourite chord of 
colour with the Venetians. Jtuskin. 
6. In geom.) a straight line intersecting a curve ; 
that part of a straight line which is comprised 
between two of its intersec- 
tions with a curve; specifi- 
cally, the straight line joining 
the extremities of an arc of a 
circle. 
The great Piazza in Siena ... is 
in the shape of a shallow horse-shoe, 
... or, better, of a bow, in which 
the high facade of the Palazzo Pub- 
blico forma the chord, and everything 
else the arc. 
//. James, Jr., Trans. Sketches, 
[p. 254. 
Geometrical Chords. 
AS, AC are chords of 
the arcs they subtend. 
7. A main horizontal member of a bridge-truss. 
When at the upper side, it is a top chord, and is in com- 
pression ; when at the lower edge, it is a lomr chord, and 
is in tension. 
8. In anat., a cord; a chorda; especially, the 
notochord, or chorda dorsalis. See chorda. 
Broken chords. See broken. Chord of an angle, the 
chord of the intercepted arc of a circle of unit radius hav- 
ing its center at the vertex of the angle. Chord Of cur- 
vature, that chord of the osculating circle of a curve which 
passes through the origin of coordinates. Chords Of con- 
tact, of two circles, chords joining the points of tangency 
of two common tangents of the two circles. Chords of 
Willis, numerous fibrous bands extending across the 
lumen of the superior longitudinal sinus of the brain, in 
its posterior portion. Chromatic Chord. See chromat- 
ic. Common chord, a chord joining the intersections of 
chordometer 
two or more circles. Consonant, derivative, diatonic, 
etc., chords. See the adjectives. 
chord (kord), v. [< chord, n. Cf. cord 1 , r.] I. 
trans. To furnish with chords or strings, as a 
musical instrument. [Rare.] 
When Jubul struck the chorded shell. Dryden. 
II. intrans. In music, to sound harmoniously 
or concordantly. 
chorda (kor'da), n.; pi. chorda; (-de). [L., a 
string, etc., with mod. (NL.) scientific applica- 
tions: see chord, cord- 1 .] 1. In anat.: (a) A 
tendon, (b) A filament of nerve, (c) The noto- 
chord. 2. [cap.'] [NL.] A genus of olive- 
brown marine algae, belonging to the family 
Laminarieai. They have long, slender, hollow, cylin- 
drical fronds, which in the common species, Chorda jil unt, 
sometimes attain a length of 12 feet, with a diameter of a 
quarter of an inch. The surface is covered with a corti- 
cal layer of cuneate-clavate culls. Only unilocular sporan- 
gia are known. They are sometimes called catgut and zea- 
lace. Chorda caudalls, the urochord. Chorda dor- 
salis, the notochord. Chordae Ferrenii, the vocal cords. 
Chordae tendinese, the tendinous cords fastened to the 
free edgeof the auriiMiloventruular valves of the heart, and 
attaching them loosely to the inner wall of the ventricles. 
They prevent these valves from being driven back into the 
auricles during the ventricular systole. Chordae vo- 
cales, the vocal cords (which see, under cordl). Chorda 
magna, the ti-mlu Achillis. Chorda transversa, the 
oblique or round ligament running from the tubercle at the 
base of the coronoid process of the ulna to the radius a 
little below the bicipital tuberosity. Chorda tympani, 
the tympanic cord, a branch of the facial or seventh cranial 
nerve, which traverses the tympanic cavity, and joins the 
gustatory or lingual nerve. Chorda vertebralis, the 
notochord. 
chorda-animal (k6r'da-an // i-mal), n. A chor- 
donium. 
chordae, . Plural of chorda. 
chorda! (kor'dal), . [< L. chorda, a chord, + 
-?.] Of or pertaining to a chord ; specifically, 
of or pertaining to the chorda dorsalis or noto- 
chord of a vertebrate Chorda! sheath, the in- 
vestment of the notochord ; the perichord. Chordal 
tissue, the substance of the notochord ; the peculiar car- 
tilaginous tissue known as cellular cartilage. 
Chordaria (kor-da'ri-a), n. [NL., < Gr. %op- 
&dptov, dim. of xpt>l = L. chorda, a cord: see 
chord, cord 1 .] The representative genus of 
the family ( liordariea. It has fronds tough 
and elastic, and the cortical filaments adhere 
closely to one another. 
chordariaceous (kor-da-ri-a'shius), a. [< 
Chorda riii + -aceous."] Resembling Chordaria; 
having the characters of the family Chordariece. 
Chordarieae (kor-da-ri'e-e), n. pi. '[NL., < Chor- 
daria + -'.] A family of olive-green alga, hav- 
ing cylindrical, filamentous, branching fronds. 
The frond has an axis of slender longitudinal cells, sur- 
rounded by a cortex of short, densely packed filaments 
perpendicular to the axis. The sporangia are borne among 
the cortical filaments or fonned directly from them. 
Chordata (kor-da'ta), . pi. [NL., neut. pi. 
of chordatus: see "chordate.] A primary di- 
vision or subkingdom of the animal kingdom, 
containing all animals which have or have had 
a notochord, thus including (a) the true verte- 
brates (also called Craniota), (b) the leptocar- 
dians, or Cephalochorda, and (c) the tunicates, 
or Urochorda. 
Chordate (kor'dat), a. [< NL. chordatus, hav- 
ing a chord or cord (spinal cord, notochord), 
< L. chorda, a chord: see chord."] Having the 
characters of the Chordata; pertaining to or 
resembling the Chordata: as, a cfcordate animal. 
chordaulodion (kor-da-16'di-on), n. [< Gr. 
xopoti, a string, + alMf. a pipe, + (Jx'^, song.] 
A composite musical instrument, containing 
both strings and pipes, invented in 1812 by 
Kaufmann at Dresden; a kind of orchestrion. 
chordee (kor-de'), [< F. chordae, < NL. 
chordata, fern, of chordatus: see chordate."] A 
painful erection of the penis, under which it is 
considerably curved. It attends gonorrhea, and 
usually occurs at night. 
Chordeiles (kor-dl'lez), . [NL. (Swainson, 
1831), emended Chordediles, more prop. *Chor- 
dodiles, -us (so called in allusion to its noc- 
turnal note), < Gr. xP'ty> the chord of a lyre or 
harp, + deity, evening.] A genus of American 
glabrirostral Caprimidghia', having long pointed 
wingsTvhich extend beyond the forked tail. The 
type is the long-winged goatsucker, night-hawk, bull-bat, 
or piramidig of the United States, C. virginianus or C. 
popetue. There are several other species, chiefly of the 
warmer parts of America. 
chordel (kor'del), n. [< chord + dim. -el."] A 
plane curve every point of which terminates 
an arc which originates in a fixed line, is de- 
scribed with a fixed point as a center, and sub- 
tends a given length the same number of times 
as a chord. 
chordometer (k6r-dom'e-ter), n. [< L. chorda 
(= Gr. xP s n), a string, + Gr. fiirpov, a mea- 
