coda

¹

[koh-duh]

noun

1. Music.,  a more or less independent passage, at the end of a composition, introduced to bring it to a satisfactory close.

2. Ballet.,  the concluding section of a ballet, especially the final part of a pas de deux.

3. a concluding section or part, especially one of a conventional form and serving as a summation of preceding themes, motifs, etc., as in a work of literature or drama.

4. anything that serves as a concluding part.

5. Phonetics.,  the segment of a syllable following the nucleus, as the d- sound in good.

CODA

²

[koh-duh]

abbreviation

1. child of deaf adultadults: a hearing person with a deaf parent or parents.

coda

/ ˈkəʊdə /

noun

1. music the final, sometimes inessential, part of a musical structure

2. a concluding part of a literary work, esp a summary at the end of a novel of further developments in the lives of the characters

coda

1. An ending to a piece of music, standing outside the formal structure of the piece. Coda is the Italian word for “tail.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of coda¹

First recorded in 1745–55; from Italian, from Latin cauda “tail”; queue

Origin of coda²

First recorded in 1990–95

Word History and Origins

Origin of coda¹

C18: from Italian: tail, from Latin cauda

Example Sentences

If he thought his return to the laboratory would be a placid coda to his career, he was soon proved wrong, by yet another advance in genetic engineering, this one called CRISPR.

From Los Angeles Times

But Hanegbi added a coda – "but the concept of 'at the moment' is valid for a limited time."

From BBC

Sperm whales use a series of clicks, called codas, to communicate.

From Salon

Maybe all this can be read as an ironic coda to the last 80 years of U.S. global domination, the reductio ad absurdum of American exceptionalism.

From Salon

Over nine minutes and six seconds it achieves Caligulan levels of excess, full of scorching guitar solos, throat-shredding vocal runs, and even an orchestral coda.

From BBC

Related Words

• afterword 
• postscript 
• summation