Coda
noun /ˈkoʊ.də/ — The concluding passage of a musical piece.
Definition
A concluding section of a musical composition — distinct from the main body, often functioning as a summation, elaboration, or resolution. More broadly, any conclusion or ending section that wraps up what has come before.
Beyond the definition
The coda says: we are ending, but not abruptly. There is time to take a breath, to feel the whole, to be prepared. It is the musical equivalent of a good goodbye.
Origin & history
Italian: 'tail'; from Latin 'cauda' (tail). In music since the 16th century; in general English to mean any concluding passage.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
Beethoven's codas are famously long and emphatic — the Fifth Symphony has a coda that feels like a second ending, then a third.
She thought of their conversation's coda: the brief, quiet exchange at the door after everything important had been said.
The novel's coda — a single chapter set ten years later — recontextualized everything that came before it.
Synonyms
conclusion, finale, postlude, envoi
Antonyms
opening, introduction, prelude
Related words
Coda vs finale
Use coda to describe a specific structural section at the end of a musical piece or literary work. Use finale to describe the final, often climactic, performance or event in a series.
Compare this word
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Chair Being Reclaimed By Forest
A wooden chair sits on the forest floor, becoming a final, integrated part of the earth as mushrooms grow on the seat.
A coda is the concluding resolution of a composition. The chair's final state as nature reclaims it serves as this summary, acting as a final resolution to the history of the human-made object.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration