What does cord mean?
A cord is a slender, flexible length of material formed by twisting or braiding fibres or strands together, thinner than a rope yet sturdier than thread. Cords serve countless practical purposes: tying parcels, drawing blinds, securing loads, lacing garments, and connecting appliances to power outlets as electrical cords. Beyond its physical sense, the word extends into anatomy, where it names tubular body structures such as the spinal cord, the umbilical cord that links a fetus to its mother, and the vocal cords that produce speech. This breadth gives the word a quiet ubiquity — from household drawers and camping gear to operating theatres and biology textbooks. Cord carries no particular emotional connotation; it is neutral, functional, and precise, valued for conveying a specific kind of object or structure. Its relatives include chord (a harmony of notes) and accord, all descended from the same ancient root concerning strings and joining together.
nounA cord is a thin, flexible length of twisted or braided strands used for tying, fastening, or hanging things; it also denotes an anatomical structure such as the umbilical cord or spinal cord.
- A thin flexible string or rope made of twisted strands, used for tying, binding, or pulling
- An anatomical structure resembling such a cord, especially the spinal cord, umbilical cord, or vocal cords
- An electrical cable or flex connecting an appliance to a power source
"She tied back the curtains with a braided cord."
"He pulled the cord to raise the blinds."
"The surgeon carefully clamped the umbilical cord before cutting it."
The plural 'cords' follows standard noun pluralization. Note that 'cords' is also a British informal term for corduroy trousers, and 'vocal cords' uses this plural form.
"The box was secured with two lengths of nylon cords."
The words 'cord' and 'chord' were once the same word — they only split into two spellings in the 1600s, which is why musicians still 'strike a chord' with something borrowed from rope-making.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cord
The word cord derives from the Greek 'khorde', meaning the intestine or a string of a lyre, which passed into Latin as 'chorda' and then into Old French as 'corde' before entering Middle English around the thirteenth century. Originally it denoted a string made from twisted animal gut, later generalizing to any similar twisted strand. Its sibling 'chord' is simply the same word reshaped under Renaissance influence from Greek, preserving the musical meaning; other relatives include accord, concord, and discord.
Related word forms
How cord is actually used
Cord is a common everyday word with no strong register restrictions. In anatomy and medicine, specific compounds (spinal cord, umbilical cord, vocal cords) are fixed technical terms. In British English, 'flex' is often preferred for an electrical cord; American English typically says 'power cord'. The plural 'cords' can also refer informally to corduroy trousers ('he wore cords'), a chiefly British colloquial usage.
Easily confused with cord
A chord is a group of musical notes played together, whereas a cord is a physical string or rope — both share the same Greek root but diverged in spelling and meaning.
Cored is the past tense of the verb 'core' (to remove the core of fruit), not a form relating to cord.