resonance

C2+ Topic:Physics

US /ˈrɛzənəns/ UK /ˈrɛzənəns/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the quality of being deep, full, and reverberating; sympathetic vibration

The cellist's note swelled with a warm, lingering resonance.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of being deep,... reverberationsonorityrichness fullness vibration echoplangency

Opposites

dullness flatness thinness

Word family

Related forms resonant resonate resound sound sonorous

Etymology

From Old French resonance, from Latin resonantia ('echo'), from resonare ('to resound'), from re- (intensive) + sonare ('to sound'), from sonus ('sound').

resonare Latin sonus Latin *swen- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Physics Abstract Ideas

External links

# resonance

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈrɛzənəns/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈrɛzənəns/

## Meanings
1. the quality of being deep, full, and reverberating; sympathetic vibration

## Examples
- The cellist's note swelled with a warm, lingering resonance.

## Synonyms
- reverberation
- sonority
- richness
- fullness
- vibration
- echo
- plangency

## Antonyms
- dullness
- flatness
- thinness

## Related Forms
- resonant
- resonate
- resound
- sound
- sonorous

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: resonare
- Root: sonus
- Root: *swen-

## Etymology
From Old French resonance, from Latin resonantia ('echo'), from resonare ('to resound'), from re- (intensive) + sonare ('to sound'), from sonus ('sound').

## AI Etymology
Resonance comes from Old French resonance, from Latin resonantia ('echo'), from resonare ('to resound'), from re- (intensive) + sonare ('to sound'), from sonus ('sound'). The historical chain includes Latin resonare, Latin sonus, and Proto-Indo-European *swen-. Older glosses in the chain include "echo", "to resound", "to sound", and "sound", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, resonance is best read as compound and borrowing, yielding an English noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun, with the sense "the quality of being deep, full, and reverberating; sympathetic vibration". related forms include resonant, resonate, resound, and sound. The result is an English noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Physics
- Abstract Ideas

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