Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Music Identity of pitch; the interval of a perfect prime.
- n. Music The combination of parts at the same pitch or in octaves.
- n. The act or an instance of speaking the same words simultaneously by two or more speakers.
- n. An instance of agreement; concord.
- idiom. in unison In complete agreement; harmonizing exactly.
- idiom. in unison At the same time; at once.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Sounding alone; unisonous.
- In music, sounded simultaneously; specifically, noting two or more voice-parts that are coincident in pitch, or a passage or effect thus produced.
- n. In music: The interval, melodic or harmonic, between any tone and a tone of exactly the same pitch; a perfect prime, acoustically represented by the ratio 1:1. The term is also used as a synonym of prime (as, an augmented unison), though this is objectionable.
- n. The interval of the octave, especially when occurring between male and female voices, or between higher and lower instruments of the same class.
- n. The state of sounding at the same pitch—that is, of being at the interval of a unison.
- n. A single unvaried tone; a monotone. Same as unison string.
- n. Accordance; agreement; harmony; concord.
Wiktionary
- n. The state of being together, in harmony, at the same time, as one, synchronized.
- n. music The simultaneous playing of an identical note more than once.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Harmony; agreement; concord; union.
- n. (Mus.) Identity in pitch; coincidence of sounds proceeding from an equality in the number of vibrations made in a given time by two or more sonorous bodies. Parts played or sung in octaves are also said to be in
unison , or in octaves. - n. rare A single, unvaried.
- adj. obsolete Sounding alone.
- adj. (Mus.) Sounded alike in pitch; unisonant; unisonous.
WordNet 3.0
- n. corresponding exactly
- n. (music) two or more sounds or tones at the same pitch or in octaves
- n. occurring together or simultaneously
Etymologies
- From Middle English "unisoun", from Middle French "unisson", from Medieval Latin unisonus having the same sound, from Latin uni- + sonus sound. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin ūnisonus, in unison, from Late Latin, monotonous : Latin ūni-, uni- + Latin sonus, sound; see swen- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“January 27th, 2007 at 5: 11 am PST leaving a smug nest of do-gooders behind to fix all of our problems by complaining about them in unison typical right-wing rant. this blog’s author attacks companies all the time for all sorts of stuff, but gosh forbid somebody else do it, then it’s a just ‘a smug nest of do-gooders‘ trying to ‘fix all of our problems by complaining about them in unison‘.”
“But the extended prayer in unison is a metallic Procrusteanism, which absolutely defies the rationale of the whole business, which is the communication of meaning.”
“Margie and Gillam said in unison from the back seat "Lang --" but Ginny turned swiftly and began explaining in a low voice that "Pardon my French" was Texas for "Point taken and appreciated.”
“#373 patrick5-the thought of their drool hitting their keyboards in unison is rather an entertaining one.”
“Just before coming back on air from the commercial, the crew counted down in unison:”
“But unlike a regular dimmer the Leviton was able to dim all the bulbs in unison in a light fixture with multiple bulbs and when dimming rooms where multiple lights are controlled by one switch.”
Consumer Reports: Today's bright ideas win 'Lighting for Tomorrow' contest
“Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe welcomed guests to the new "friendship garden," greeting a crowd of children that responded, in unison, with a pitch-perfect "ohayo gozaimasu," or good morning.”
The Washington Post: Great Falls Elementary's Japanese garden preserves threatened tie to culture
“Last year Photoshop guru Scott Kelby thought it would be fun to get photographers out from behind their computers onto the streets, mingling with other like-minded camera buffs in unison on a worldwide "Photo Walk.”
“Be a wolf john C and howl with the other wolves, when we all howl to the huntress moon in unison the sheeple will tremble with fear for those that decide theire own destiny ...”
“The grim and silent figures swayed in unison with each heave of the ship.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘unison’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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MUSIC - ALL TERMS
With focus on non-classical styles, but not excluding terms of the latter.
banjo, accompaniment, acoustic bass, bass guitar, bass clef, ground, brass, cornet, Mute, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, arrangement and 866 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6689 more...
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Verecund, flivver, etc
Just some words I happen to enjoy. Some thread-worn, some not.
yegg, yob, verecund, amatory, fermata, threepenny, gruntled, flivver, gamboge, decolletage, ordure, nudnik and 173 more...
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Resounding Words
great timbre
sone, sonata, resound, sonorous, consonant, unison, sonic, swan, sonant, sonnet, dissonance, scraunch and 142 more...
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Listless
Nowhere else to put these yet.
sibilant, cloying, pithy, apologia, odyssey, amanuensis, pleasantries, ginormous, burnish, sojourn, quonset, over-under and 217 more...
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My Words
Words that I use regularly and consider mine.
zen, poser, savvy, angst, flustered, bitter, whatsoever, farfetched, indeed, scenario, inevitable, salvage and 134 more...
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Musical words
nocturne, flat, sharp, waltz, etude, opera, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, cello, flute and 131 more...
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GRE List
anthem, ablution, apocrypha, augur, cardinal, cathedral, chant, chapel, cloister, conformist, cult, devout and 145 more...
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✖ LOCUTIONS
✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖
lambda, coital, fuggedaboutit, altrap, HUGO, Synergy, Hieroglyphics, Patrician, distraught, Ethos, Devadasi, incarceration and 254 more...
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Beautiful Music
a cappella, accelerando, accompagnato, adagio, ad libitum, agitato, aleatory, alla breve, allegro, allemande, alto, andante and 548 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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Musical Intervals
I'm trying to memorize melodic intervals by tagging common songs that start with them. For example Happy Birthday is a good way to remember a major second, and so on. Feel free to suggest weird old...
unison, minor second, major second, minor third, major third, perfect fourth, perfect fifth, minor sixth, major sixth, minor seventh, major seventh, octave and 15 more...
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babble
unison, cactus, drive-in, hallo, strembonita, amurny, shampooist, shagtastic, ecbatic, doily, yappa, ness and 7 more...
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melodious, sexy words
as the title says
rhythm, harmony, sound, a cappella, accelerando, accent, crescendo, espressione, ostinato, timbre, improvisation, duet and 7 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for unison.
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