“chord” vs. “cord”
Use "chord" for musical harmony, geometric line segments, or the figurative "strike a chord"; use "cord" for rope, cable, wiring, or anatomical structures.
chord
"Chord" refers to a combination of musical notes played together in harmony ("she strummed a minor chord"), and figuratively to something that strikes an emotional response ("the story struck a chord with readers"). It comes from a 16th-century respelling of "cord" under the influence of Greek "chorde" (a string of gut, used for musical instrument strings), a spelling change deliberately introduced to align the musical sense with its Greek scholarly ancestry.
cord
"Cord" refers to a length of flexible material — string, rope, or cable — thicker than thread but thinner than rope ("an extension cord," "a length of cord"), and by extension to anatomical structures like the spinal cord or umbilical cord. It comes from Old French "corde," ultimately from the same Greek "chorde" as "chord," meaning the two words share a genuine common ancestor despite their now-distinct spellings and meanings.
The real distinction
"Chord" and "cord" are true etymological siblings — both descend from the same Greek word for a gut string — but English deliberately split their spellings apart in the Renaissance, reserving the "h"-spelling "chord" for the musical and mathematical sense (a chord also names a straight line connecting two points on a curve in geometry) and keeping the plain "cord" spelling for everything physical: rope, cable, anatomical cords, and figurative bonds ("a cord of affection"). The confusion is almost always writing "cord" when the musical sense of "chord" is intended, especially in the common idiom "strike a chord," which is very frequently misspelled as "strike a cord" even by otherwise careful writers, likely because the physical image of striking a rope or cable feels intuitively plausible even though it's historically backwards — the idiom actually derives from playing a musical chord that resonates emotionally, not from striking any physical cord at all. A useful check: if the sentence involves music, harmony, or the geometric line-segment sense, use "chord"; if it involves rope, cable, wiring, or an anatomical structure, use "cord." The shared Greek ancestry explains why both words carry a sense of connection or binding together — musical notes bound into harmony, physical strands bound into rope — even though the modern spelling split keeps their everyday uses cleanly separate. A further point worth remembering: the phrase "vocal cords" describing the anatomical structures in the throat always uses the physical "cord" spelling, never the musical "chord," even though the two structures do vibrate to produce sound, which makes this one of the more commonly misspelled anatomical terms precisely because the musical association feels intuitively tempting.
Examples with “chord”
- The guitarist played a simple three-chord progression.
- Her speech struck a chord with the entire audience.
- The pianist practiced difficult chord changes for hours.
- A chord connects two points on a circle's circumference.
- The song's opening chord instantly set the mood.
- He learned to play power chords within his first week.
- The choir's final chord echoed through the cathedral.
- That old photograph struck an unexpected chord of nostalgia.
Examples with “cord”
- Please unplug the extension cord before storing it.
- The doctor examined the newborn's umbilical cord.
- She tied the package shut with a thick cord.
- The spinal cord runs the length of the back.
- The lamp's cord had frayed near the plug.
- He wound the climbing cord neatly around his arm.
- The curtains were held back with a decorative cord.
- A single cord powered the entire string of lights.
Memory trick
Remember that "chord" keeps its Greek-derived "h" specifically for music and geometry, so whenever a piano, guitar, or harmony is involved, the "h" belongs. "Cord" drops the "h" for anything physical you could actually wind around your hand — rope, wire, cable — even though both words trace back to the very same ancient string. If you can picture literally winding it into a coil, you want "cord"; if you can picture playing or hearing it, you want "chord."