An accord is an official agreement between countries or organisations: a peace accord, a trade accord. Its second common use is in the phrase of your own accord, meaning by your own choice, without being asked: He left of his own accord. About objects, it means something happened by itself: The door opened of its own accord. In music, the word is chord, spelt with ch instead of ac.
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a peace/trade + accord; sign / reach + an accord; of your own accord; (music) a chord, not an accord
- The two countries signed a peace accord after months of difficult talks.
- Nobody asked her to stay late; she did it of her own accord.
- During the storm, the kitchen window opened of its own accord.
What changed
First versionI've been learning the guitar for a month, and I already know five accords.
RevisionI've been learning the guitar for a month, and I already know five chords.
In many European languages, the musical word looks like accord, but in English music it's chord: play a chord, guitar chords. An accord is an agreement, so five accords sounds like “five treaties”.
Accord and according to are related, but according to means “as stated by”: According to the forecast, it will rain tomorrow. For an ordinary agreement in daily life or at work, the word is agreement: We finally reached an agreement. Accord is kept for official treaties.
Your turn
My guitar teacher showed me three easy ___ that work for hundreds of songs.
Show the answer
chords — A guitar teacher shows you what you play in songs, which is chords. Accords are official agreements, and you can't play them on a guitar.
Write about a time you did something of your own free will, even though nobody asked you to. Say what you did and why.
Last month I cleaned the whole office kitchen of my own accord, because nobody else wanted to do it.
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