The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #138445   Message #3169556
Posted By: Jack Campin
12-Jun-11 - 06:58 PM
Thread Name: the oldest instrument still in use?
Subject: RE: the oldest instrument still in use?
As the OED says, "chord" is the original form (because of the etymology).

I just grabbed the first serious book off my shelf that I figured would use the word, Helmholtz's "On the Sensations of Tone" (Dover edition). That has "chord".

Looking at a few random Google hits it looks like "vocal chord" is preferred in musical contexts and "vocal cord" in medical ones.