Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ

Jun 2, 2005

This week's theme
Words from music

This week's words
bravura
crescendo
gamut
coda
finale

---

"A delightful, quirky collection"
-The New York Times


ISBN 978-0471230328
More reviews

---

Discuss
Feedback
RSS/XML

---

coda

coda (KO-duh) noun

1. The concluding passage of a piece of music, usually independent of the essential parts, added to bring it to a satisfactory close.

2. An additional section at the end of a piece of literature, serving to summarize it or to add related information.

3. Any concluding part.

[From Italian coda (tail), from Latin cauda (tail), the source of other words such as queue, coward, French queue (tail) and Spanish cola (tail).]

See more usage examples of coda in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

"Then came the coda, in Goran [Ivanisevic]'s press conference in which we were reminded what a wonderful flakehead he is. He was asked to compare himself with Navratilova, a 6-0 6-1 winner over a grasscourt no one, and Goran happily accepted."
Bruce Wilson; Former Champs Brighten Dull Day; Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia); Jun 23, 2004.

X-Bonus