Quick Definition
συμφωνία, ας, ἡ n.f. harmony of instruments, music
Strong's Definition
from 4859; unison of sound ("symphony"), i.e. a concert of instruments (harmonious note)
KJV Usage: music
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, f. | -ας | φωνέω
14.83 · Physical Events and States · Sound
music melodic and rhythmic sound, produced either by several instruments or by a single instrument In view of the combination of music and dancing, it will be necessary in some languages to choose a term for music which will fit this type of context, that is to say, music which would be normally employed for a dance.
1 LUK 15:25 In LUK 15:25 there are differences of opinion as to the meaning of συμφωνία. Some scholars contend that the reference is to music produced by several instruments, while others insist that this is music produced by a single instrument, possibly a double flute or a kind of bagpipe.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
συμφωνία, -as, 7, (σύμφωνος), [fr. Plat. down], music: Lk. xv. 25. (Polyb. 26, 10,5; [plur. of ‘the music of the spheres,’ Aristot. de caelo 2, 9 p. 290°, 22; al.])
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
συμφωνία symphōnia 1x
symphony, harmony of sounds, concert of instruments, music, Lk. 15:25*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
συμφωνία, -ας, ἡ
(< σύμφωνος), [in LXX: Da LXX TH 3:5, 15, TH ib. 7, 10 (סוּמפֹּנְיָה) IV Mac 14:3 A * ;]
symphony, music: Lk 15:25
a musical instrument (Polyb., al.; Da, ll. c.; v MM, xxiv).†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
συμφωνία is fully discussed by Philipps Barry in 73. xxvii. part ii. (1908), p. 99 ff. (cf. also xxiii. part ii. (1904), p. 180 ff.), with the result that both in Dan 35 and Lk 15?° it is pronounced to be the name of a musical instrument, perhaps a “‘bagpipe.”” For the more general sense of ‘ music,” “‘symphony,’’ cf. P Lond 968 (iii/a.p.) (= III. p. xlix) the fragment of an account, including an entry ὑπὲρ συμφωνίας τυμπάνων, and for the word = ‘‘a company of musicians,’ cf. P Flor 11. 748 (A.D. 181) ὁμολογῶ παρειληφέναι ὑμᾶς μεθ᾽ ἧς ἔχετε συμφωνίας πάσης μουσικῶν τε kal ἄλλων ὑπουργοῦντα[ς].. . ἐν τῇ προκειμένῃ κώμῃ, and P Oxy X. 12755 (iii/A.D.) ὃ προεστὼς συμφωνίας αὐλητῶν καὶ μουσικῶν, cf.12, 24, Συμφωνία is also found in a sense apparently unknown to classical Greek = ‘‘agreement’’ in such passages as P Oxy I. 104° (A.D. 96) ὑπὲρ διαλύσεως Kal συμφωνίας περὶ τῶν ὀφειλομένων ὑπ᾽ ἐμοῦ τῷ... ᾿Ατρῇ, P Rein 4415 (A.D. 104) μετὰ τὸν τῆς συμφωνίας χρόνον τῆς γενομένης μεταξὺ αὐτοῦ καὶ ᾿Ισιδώρας, and P Tebt II. 420° (iii/a.p.) (δραχμὰς) Ky ὑπὲρ συμφωνίας τῆς &6Bp<d>yw(= ov), ““ 28 drachmae for the agreement concerning the unirrigated land.’”’
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
συμφωνία (sumphōnia) — music. συμφων-ία, ἡ, concord or unison of sound, τὴν ἐν τῇ ᾠδῇ ἁρμονίαν, ἢ δὴ σ. καλεῖται [Refs 5th c.BC+]
2. of two sounds only, musical concord, accord, such as the fourth, fifth, and octave, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἡ διὰ πασῶν σ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; distinguished from mere ὁμοφωνία, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
3. harmonious union of many voices or sounds, concert, οἱ τῶν σ. λόγοι, the [Refs 4th c.BC+] doctrine of the music of the spheres, [Refs]
II. metaphorically, harmony, agreement, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μείξας πάντα κατὰ συμφωνίαν, of a cook, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; unanimily, σ. τῶν ἱστορησάντων [Refs 2nd c.AD+] concordance, of theory with observed fact, ἔχειν τοῖς φαινομένοις σ. [Refs 4th c.BC+] ={τὸ συμπεφωνημένον} [Refs], the amount agreed upon, [Refs 1st c.AD+]
III. band, orchestra, Ἑλληνικά 1.19 [Refs 1st c.AD+], and so perhaps in [Refs 2nd c.BC+], but used of a musical instrument in [LXX]; so Latin symphonia, of a kind of drum, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; symphoniae et cymbala strepitusque, [NT+1st c.AD+]