One might choose to use a synonym because they want to avoid repeating themselves, or because they would like to work on expanding their vocabulary. These are called synonyms, which are words and phrases that have the same meaning as another word or phrase. There are many different words that a person can use in place of the word discord. What are synonyms and antonyms for the word discord? This stems from the Proto-Indo-European root kerd meaning heart. This comes from the prefix dis meaning apart, and the root cordis meaning heart. The French term stems from the Latin discordia, from discors, the genitive discordis from the Latin discordare which means disagreeing or disagreement. The word comes from the Old French descort or descorde meaning disagreement, from the 12th century.