-phonycomb. form
Primary stress is usually attracted to the syllable immediately preceding this combining form and vowels may be reduced accordingly; see e.g.
periphony n.Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French -phonie; Latin -phōnia.
Etymology: < Old French -phonie and its etymon classical Latin -phōnia < ancient Greek -ϕωνία (in e.g. συμϕωνία (see symphony n.), εὐϕωνία : see euphony n.) < ϕωνή sound, tone (see -phone comb. form) + -ία -ia suffix1. Compare -phone comb. form, -phonous comb. form, -phonia comb. form.Combined chiefly with first elements ultimately of Greek origin, although see radiophony n., quadraphony n. Earliest attested in symphony n. (13th cent., < Old French) and in a number of 17th-cent. borrowings (as euphony n., cacophony n., etc.) chiefly via French nouns in -phonie or post-classical Latin nouns in -phonia (although see also the etymology of antiphony n.). English formations are fairly numerous from the first half of the 19th cent.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2020).