'Symphony' is Greek for 'sounding together' — from 'syn-' + 'phone' (voice). Harmony in one word.
An elaborate musical composition for a full orchestra, typically in four movements; a harmony of sounds; something regarded as a composition of different elements.
From Old French 'simphonie' and Latin 'symphōnia' (a unison of sounds, concord, a musical instrument), from Greek 'symphōnia' (agreement or concord of sounds, harmonious music), composed of 'syn-' (together, with) and 'phōnē' (voice, sound), from PIE *bʰeh₂- (to speak, to say, to shine forth with meaning). The PIE root *bʰeh₂- underlies a remarkable constellation: Latin 'fāma' (fame, what is spoken), 'fārī' (to speak), 'infāns' (infant — literally 'not speaking'), and Greek 'phēmē' (utterance, oracle), 'phone' (voice, sound), 'prophet' (one who speaks forth). A symphony is literally sounds 'speaking together,' voices
In the Middle Ages, 'symphony' did not mean a type of composition — it meant any instrument that produced harmony. The hurdy-gurdy was commonly called a 'symphonia' because its drone strings created simultaneous tones. The word's journey from 'any harmonious instrument' to 'a specific orchestral form' reflects the evolution