Chord or cord?
chord is a noun meaning “A harmonic set of three or more notes that is heard as if sounding…”; cord is a noun meaning “A long, thin, flexible length of twisted yarns (strands) of fibre (a rope, for…”. They sound the same (/kɔːd/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) cord is about 2.1 times as common as chord.
What is the difference between chord and cord?
| chord | cord | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb |
| Meaning | A harmonic set of three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously A line segment between two points of a curve To write chords for | A long, thin, flexible length of twisted yarns (strands) of fibre (a rope, for example) Any quantity of such material when viewed as a mass or commodity To furnish with cords |
| Example | This note chords with that one | The burglar tied up the victim with a cord |
| Forms | chords | cords |
| Pronunciation | /kɔːd/ /kɔɹd/ | /ˈkɔːd/ [ˈkʰɔːd] ~ [ˈkʰo̞ːd] /ˈkoːd/ |
| In writing | 4.5 times per million words | 9.5 times per million words |
Sources: chord and cord in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of chord and cord
chord
- 1
A harmonic set of three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously
- 2
To write chords for
- 3
A line segment between two points of a curve
- 4
To accord; to harmonize together
This note chords with that one
- 5
A horizontal member of a truss
- 6
To provide with musical chords or strings; to string; to tune
- 7
A section of subsidiary railway track that interconnects two primary tracks that cross at different levels, to permit traffic to flow between them
- 8
The distance between the leading and trailing edge of a wing, measured in the direction of the normal airflow
cord
- 1
A long, thin, flexible length of twisted yarns (strands) of fibre (a rope, for example)
The burglar tied up the victim with a cord
- 2
To furnish with cords
- 3
Any quantity of such material when viewed as a mass or commodity
He looped some cord around his fingers
- 4
To tie or fasten with cords
- 5
A small flexible electrical conductor composed of wires insulated separately or in bundles and assembled together usually with an outer cover; the electrical cord of a lamp, sweeper ((US) vacuum…
- 6
To flatten a book during binding
- 7
A unit of measurement for firewood, equal to 128 cubic feet (4 × 4 × 8 feet), composed of logs and/or split logs four feet long and none over eight inches diameter. It is usually seen as a stack four…
- 8
To arrange (wood, etc.) in a pile for measurement by the cord
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, chord or cord?
chord appears 4.5 times per million words; cord 9.5 times per million words.
chord 4.5 times per million wordscord 9.5 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search chord vs cord?
“chord vs cord” is searched about 3,600 times a month on Google and 90 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“cord vs chord”, “chord or cord”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.