Concordances

/kənˈkɔːrdənsɪz/ noun

Definition

Plural of concordance; comprehensive indexes showing all instances of words or phrases in a text with surrounding context.

Etymology

Plural form of concordance (Latin concordantia, 'agreement'). Originally, concordances were handmade indexes of religious texts to help readers find matching passages.

Kelly Says

Before Google, scholars spent lifetimes creating concordances of major texts—the massive Bible concordance was a marvel of medieval labor, and now digital concordancers do in milliseconds what took monks years to accomplish.

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