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harmony: harmony: [14] The etymological idea behind harmony is ‘fitting things together’ – that is, of combining notes in an aesthetically pleasing manner. It comes via Old French harmonie and Latin harmonia from Greek harmoníā ‘means of joining’, hence ‘agreement, concord’, a derivative of harmós ‘joint’. As a musical term in Greek it appears to have denoted ‘scale’, or more simply just ‘music’, and its original use in English was for what we would now call ‘melody’.

It was not applied to the combination of notes to form chords (a practice which originated in the 9th century) until the 16th century. The term harmonica was coined in 1762 by the American physicist and statesman Benjamin Franklin for a musical instrument consisting of a set of water-filled glasses tuned to different notes and played with the fingers. It was first applied to the mouth-organ in the 19th century.
xylophone: xylophone: [19] Etymologically, a xylophone makes ‘sounds’ from ‘wood’. The term was coined in the 1860s from Greek xúlon ‘wood’ (an allusion to the instrument’s tuned wooden bars) and the combining form -phone ‘sound’.
attune (v.): 1590s, from tune (v.), "probably suggested by ATONE" [OED]. Related: Attuned; attuning.
G-string (n.): 1878, geestring, "loincloth worn by an American Indian," originally the string that holds it up, etymology unknown. The spelling with G (1882) is perhaps from influence of violin string tuned to a G (in this sense G string is first recorded 1831), the lowest and heaviest of the violin strings. First used of women's attire 1936, with reference to strip-teasers.
I AM the spirit of the silver "G":
I am silvered sadness,
I am moonlit gladness,
I am that fine madness
Of reverence half, and half of ecstasy
[from "Spirit of the 'G' String," Alfred L. Donaldson, in "Songs of My Violin," 1901]
importune (v.): 1520s, back-formation from importunity, or else from Middle French importuner, from Medieval Latin importunari "to make oneself troublesome," from Latin importunus "unfit, troublesome," originally "having no harbor" (i.e. "difficult to access"), from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + portus "harbor" (see port (n.1)). Related: Importuned; importuning. As an adjective from early 15c.
retune (v.): also re-tune, c. 1600 of musical instruments; 1974 of engines, from re- + tune (v.). Related: Retuned; retuning.
screw (v.): "to twist (something) like a screw," 1590s, from screw (n.). From 1610s as "to attach with a screw." Slang meaning "to copulate" dates from at least 1725, originally usually of the action of the male, on the notion of driving a screw into something. Meaning "defraud, cheat" is from 1900. First recorded 1949 in exclamations as a euphemism. Related: Screwed; screwing. To screw up "blunder" is recorded from 1942. Screwed up originally was figurative for "tuned to a high or precise pitch" (1907), an image from the pegs of stringed instruments. Meaning "confused, muddled" attested from 1943. Expression to have (one's) head screwed on the right (or wrong) way is from 1821.
tempered (adj.): 1650s, "brought to desired hardness" (of metals, especially steel), past participle adjective from temper (v.). Meaning "toned down by admixture" is from 1650s; of music or musical instruments, "tuned," from 1727.
tune (v.): "bring into a state of proper pitch," c. 1500, from tune (n.). Non-musical meaning "to adjust an organ or receiver, put into a state proper for some purpose" is recorded from 1887. Verbal phrase tune in in reference to radio (later also TV) is recorded from 1913; figurative sense of "become aware" is recorded from 1926. Tune out "eliminate radio reception" is recorded from 1908; figurative sense of "disregard, stop heeding" is from 1928. Related: Tuned; tuning.
untempered (adj.): mid-15c., "not properly mixed, undiluted," from un- (1) "not" + past participle of temper (v.). Similar formation in Middle Dutch ongetempert, Middle High German ungetempert. Earlier as "unrestrained" (late 14c.), also, of a musical instrument, "not properly tuned;" meaning "unhardened" is from 1820.