Diapason

[Dr. Goodword]

• diapason •

Pronunciation: dai-ê-pay-zên • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. The outpouring of full, rich, harmonious sound. 2. The entire range or scope of something. 3. The interval of an octave. 4. A tuning fork. 5. Either of the two principal stops on a pipe organ that marks the entire range of the instrument.

Notes: I must admit this word took me by surprise. I'm not sure why it is not more often used. Let's all try to use it more, so that it doesn't return to its narrow musical meaning. Its adjective is diapasonal.

In Play: The first sentence will exemplify the close relation of today's word with music: "The final movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony is a choral diapason of voices singing Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy". However, this word may be used in many ways unrelated to music: "The boss's announcement that the lunch break was going to be reduced to 45 minutes was greeted by a diapason of moans and groans."

Word History: In Middle English today's Good Word was diapasoun, from Latin diapason "the whole octave", from Greek dia pason (khordon) "through all (the notes)". This phrase comprises dia "through" + pason, the feminine genitive plural of pas "every, all". No one seems to know how dia came to be in the ancient Greek language. We know a bit more about pas. It is attested in only two languages: the now deceased Tokharian and ancient Greek. The neuter form of this adjective in Greek was pan, which is widely used in English: pan-America, pan-Slavic. It can also be found in some commonly used words, like panorama, panacea, and pantheon, any temple dedicated to "all gods". (Let's now have a diapason of applause for Jackie Strauss, who recommended today's Good Word.)

[cfz3]

I am sure that by now you have received numerous replies about your rare but nonetheless glaring in the ""In Play" for diapason. I am giving you the benefit of doubt and assuming a typo in suggesting Beethoven's 5th Symphony to be the choral..."Ode to Joy" which, as those as lexically astute as you and your staff seem to be, must know that you were referring to the fourth movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

cf

[Perry Lassiter]

I know "diapason" as strictly an organ term, a unique sound as opposed to trumpet, viol, and the like. I don't really understand the wide-ranging octave style in the definition. Pipe organ stops are numbered by the longest pipe in a particular set. For example, you will see "Flute 2'" for high pitched pipes, the longest of which is two feet long. A pedal stop might read "Bourdon 16', which is a deep and low sound from a long set of pipes 16' and shorter. Of course, all these pipes have overtones that make them distinctive as do all instruments. Could the octaves mentioned in the definition refer to them?

[Slava]

Once again I find myself corrected. I have always thought this word was pronounced dye-A-pe-zon. Now all I need do is remember.