What does concert mean?
A concert is a live musical performance presented to an audience, ranging from an intimate classical recital to a stadium-scale rock show. The word carries connotations of shared experience and occasion: attending a concert implies deliberate gathering, a scheduled programme, and the presence of performers. Beyond music, "concert" has a long-standing figurative sense denoting harmony of action or purpose, preserved chiefly in the phrase "in concert with", meaning working jointly or in coordination. Derived forms include "concerted" (done together or with combined effort) and compounds such as "concertgoer". The word traces back through French to the Italian "concertare", originally meaning to strive or contend together, an irony worth noting given today's peaceful connotations. Useful in both everyday and formal writing, "concert" remains one of the most versatile words for organised musical events and cooperative endeavour alike.
A live musical performance given before an audience by one or more singers or instrumentalists.
"The pianist will give a concert of Chopin's works next Friday evening."
Often modified by genre words such as "rock", "classical", "jazz", or "benefit" to indicate the type of event.
Agreement or coordination in action between people or groups; harmonious cooperation toward a common end.
"The allies acted in concert to broker the peace settlement."
Chiefly used in the fixed expression "in concert with"; rare outside formal or written contexts.
Regular plural; commonly used when referring to a series of performances or events over time.
"The festival features more than forty concerts across three stages."
The word "concert" once meant fighting together against someone — before music turned it into something we enjoy together.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of concert
The English noun "concert" derives from the Italian "concertare", meaning to arrange, agree, or contend together, which itself comes from Latin "concertare" — literally to dispute or compete with one another. It entered English in the late sixteenth century via French "concerte", initially carrying senses of agreement and joint action before acquiring its musical meaning of a performance by multiple voices or instruments in harmony in the seventeenth century. Cognates include Italian "concerto" and the older English "consort", both from the same root describing instruments or voices sounding together.
Related word forms
How concert is actually used
As a noun for a musical event, "concert" is neutral in register and used across formal and informal contexts. In its figurative sense it usually appears as the fixed phrase "in concert with", often in political, diplomatic, or organisational writing. The verb form "to concert" exists but is rare and chiefly formal or literary, so most writers use only the noun.
Easily confused with concert
"Consort" refers to a small group of instruments playing together, or the spouse of a monarch, whereas "concert" denotes a musical performance for an audience.
A "concerto" is a composition for solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra — a piece performed at concerts, not the event itself.