concinnity

Etymology

Coined 1531 by Sir Thomas Elyot in his treatise, The Boke Named The Governor, from Latin concinnitās (“skillfully put together”).

Why this word is great

CONCINNITY — [Noun] The skillful and harmonious arrangement or fitting together of the different parts of a work of art or literature. From Latin concinnitās ("skillfully put together"), from concinnus ("well-arranged, elegant"). Unlike "harmony" (which broadly denotes pleasing agreement) or "coherence" (which refers to logical consistency), concinnity is the deliberate, artful orchestration of disparate elements into a seamless whole. It is the way a sonnet’s meter and rhyme conspire to elevate its theme, the precise balance of light and shadow in a Vermeer, or the moment in a symphony when the strings, woodwinds, and brass converge—not merely coexisting, but elevating one another. A quiet testament to the human insistence on order, even when the world resists it.

noun

The harmonious reinforcement of the various parts of a work of art.“In the Terminology, or what, to avoid the barbarism of a word compounded of Latin and Greek, they would beg to call the Orismology of the science, they have endeavoured to introduce throughout a greater degree of precision and concinnity—dividing it into general and partial Orismology; […]”