harmonics

C2 Topic:Art & Music
US /hɑɹˈmɑnɪks/ UK /hɑːˈmɒnɪks/
noun Freq #53324

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    the study of musical sounds, harmony, and their acoustic relationships

    The course approaches harmonics through both musical theory and physics.

  2. 2
    noun

    tones whose frequencies are whole-number multiples of a fundamental frequency

    The violinist lightly touched the string to produce clear upper harmonics.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · the study of musical... acousticstheory of harmony
2 noun · tones whose frequencies are... overtonespartials
Word family

Etymology

The plural or collective noun of harmonic, ultimately from Greek harmonikos ("harmonious, skilled in music"), from harmonia ("joining, agreement"). As a field name, harmonics denotes the science of musical sounds.

Topics

markdown

Send feedback

Optional — only if you'd like a reply.