acoustics

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word acoustics. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word acoustics, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say acoustics in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word acoustics you have here. The definition of the word acoustics will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofacoustics, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From acoustic +‎ -s.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /əˈkuː.stɪks/
  • (file)

Noun

acoustics (uncountable) See -ics regarding the treatment of such nouns as singular.

  1. (physics) The science of sounds, teaching their nature, phenomena and laws.
    • 1831, John Herschel, Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, London: Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green: Paternoster Row, and John Taylor, Upper Gower Street, page 248:
      "Acoustics, then, or the science of sound, is a very consderable branch of physics, and one which has been cultivated from the earliest ages.
  2. The properties of a space that affect how sound carries.
    The acoustics in the opera house gave the whole concert a spooky sound.

Usage notes

  • The science was previously divided by some writers into diacoustics, which explains the properties of sounds coming directly from (sic! Webster) the ear; and catacoustics, which treats of reflected sounds or echoes. This division is now obsolete.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun

acoustics

  1. plural of acoustic

References