resonator

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an object, chamber, or part of an instrument that vibrates at particular frequencies and strengthens or shapes a sound

   The bird's swollen throat acted as a resonator that amplified its call.

2. 2
   noun

   a circuit, cavity, or optical structure designed to sustain oscillations strongly at a resonant frequency

   The radio's resonator selected a narrow band of frequencies.

Formed from resonate + the agent or instrument suffix -or. The word names anything whose natural vibration reinforces selected frequencies, whether an acoustic chamber, a musical-instrument body, or an electrical or optical system.

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