co·da / ˈkōdə/ • n. Mus. the concluding passage of a piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure. ∎  the concluding section of a dance, esp. of a pas de deux or the finale of a ballet in which the dancers parade before the audience. ∎  a concluding event, remark, or section: his new novel is a kind of coda to his previous books.

coda (It.). Tail. Orig. a section of a movt. added at the end to clinch matters rather than to develop the mus. further. However, in the syms. of Mozart, Haydn, and especially Beethoven, the coda came to have integral formal significance, becoming at times 2nd development section and sometimes containing new material. Later composers have increased and extended this tendency.

coda (mus.) concluding passage. XVIII. — It. :- L. cauda tail.