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. Compare core ¹( def 14 ), onset ( def 3 ).

CODA

²

[ koh-duh ]

abbreviation for

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

Film and TV production company Legendary Entertainment has bought out the remaining 50% stake owned by Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group, signifying a coda to China’s once-lofty hopes of becoming a major player in Hollywood.

From Los Angeles Times

You might take this coda as a salute to mothers and sons, a comment on the squirrelly nature of fiction, or just a final mean trick in a series that delights in them.

From Los Angeles Times

In a grim coda, Hamas on Monday released a brief black-and-white video on the Telegram messaging app, showing each of the six hostages briefly identifying themselves, and signaled its intention to release longer footage.

From Los Angeles Times

A fitting coda to a childish slog of hero worship.

From Los Angeles Times

Instead of the more commonly known melodies popularized by “Songs of the Humpback Whale,” sperm whales communicate with sequences of clicks called codas.

From Salon

Related Words

• afterword
• postscript
• summation