'corda' originates from Italian, where it means 'string' or 'rope', ultimately from Latin 'chorda' and Greek 'χορδή' (chordē) meaning 'gut, string'.

'χορδή' (Greek) passed into Latin as 'chorda', which in the Romance languages became forms like Italian 'corda'. The modern Italian 'corda' was then used directly in musical terminology in English (e.g. 'una corda').

Initially it meant 'gut' or 'string' (material used for strings); over time the meaning broadened to 'string' or 'rope' in general and acquired the specific musical sense (as in piano terminology) in modern usage.