Meaning of "accord" Hello, I have a question from a news article. In the article, a 25-year-old man died in the hospital due to brain death but his family denied to discontinue the life support equipment. Then, "his heart stopped of its own accord in Marc (2024)

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Updated on15 Aug 2018

jasmineteablue

4 May 2018

Japanese

English (US)
English (UK)

Question about English (US)

The original article is here:

When death is not the end
https://www.economist.com/news/international/21...

My question is from the second paragraph.

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floraguap

4 May 2018

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English (US)
French (France)Near fluent

It's an interesting coincidence that accord is cognate to the Latin word "cor," which means heart. However, "of its own accord" is simply a phrase that means "on its own." "Accord," in this context, means desire, or will.

It's an interesting coincidence that accord is cognate to the Latin word "cor," which means heart. However, "of its own accord" is simply a phrase that means "on its own." "Accord," in this context, means desire, or will.

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It's an interesting coincidence that accord is cognate to the Latin word "cor," which means heart. However, "of its own accord" is simply a phrase that means "on its own." "Accord," in this context, means desire, or will.

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jasmineteablue

4 May 2018

Japanese

@floraguap Thank you for your advice. I understand when you say "on its own", but then, why it can mean as "desire" or "will"???"His heart stopped of its own accord in March, five months later" can be said as "his hear stopped of its own desire"?Does it mean, "his heart stopped despite its hope" or something alike?? Or, "his heart stopped by its own will"?Hummmmmmm... it's difficult!!

@floraguap
Thank you for your advice. I understand when you say "on its own", but then, why it can mean as "desire" or "will"???

"His heart stopped of its own accord in March, five months later" can be said as "his hear stopped of its own desire"?
Does it mean, "his heart stopped despite its hope" or something alike??
Or, "his heart stopped by its own will"?
Hummmmmmm... it's difficult!!

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jasmineteablue

@jasmineteablue Correct. His heart stopped on its own -- "by its own desire," as if a heart, which is inanimate, could have a desire. That is a literary technique used often in English which is called personification -- giving human -like characteristics to an inanimate object (in this case a heart).

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Meaning of "accord" Hello, I have a question from a news article. In the article, a 25-year-old man died in the hospital due to brain death but his family denied to discontinue the life support equipment. Then, "his heart stopped of its own accord in Marc (2024)

It's an interesting coincidence that accord is cognate to the Latin word "cor," which means heart. However, "of its own accord" is simply a phrase that means "on its own." "Accord," in this context, means desire, or will.

It's an interesting coincidence that accord is cognate to the Latin word "cor," which means heart. However, "of its own accord" is simply a phrase that means "on its own." "Accord," in this context, means desire, or will.

References