vibration

English

Etymology

From French vibration, from Latin vibrātiō (“a shaking or brandishing”), from vibrō (“shake, vibrate”); see vibrate. Morphologically vibrate +‎ -ion

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /vaɪˈbɹeɪʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

vibration (countable and uncountable, plural vibrations)

1. The act of vibrating or the condition of being vibrated.
2. (physics) Any periodic process, especially a rapid linear motion of a body about an equilibrium position.
3. A single complete vibrating motion.
   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IV, in Francesca Carrara. , volume III, London: Richard Bentley, , (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 21:

     The moon, which had been slowly ascending, now shone through an open space between the trees; and the rippling waters of the brook gave back her light in luminous vibrations.

4. (parapsychology) A vibrational energy of spiritual nature through which mediumistic and other paranormal phenomena are conveyed or affected.
   • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

     "And the sitters?" "I expect Professor Challenger may wish to bring a friend or two of his own." "They will form a horrible block of vibrations! We must have some of our own sympathetic people to counteract it."

5. (by extension, slang, often in the plural) An instinctively sensed emotional aura or atmosphere.

   Synonym: vibe

   • 1966, Mike Love, Brian Wilson (lyrics and music), “Good Vibrations”, performed by The Beach Boys:

     I'm pickin' up good vibrations / She's giving me the excitations.

   • 1967 October 7, “Parade in Haight-Ashbury Marks ‘Death of the Hippie’”, in New York Times‎, page 26:

     The procession circled the district, symbolically purging the area of its “evil,” which paraders described as the “bad vibrations” from tourists and youths in Hippie clothes not living up to Hippie standards.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• “vibration”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “vibration”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

French

Etymology

From Latin vibrātiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vi.bʁa.sjɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

vibration f (plural vibrations)

1. vibration

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “vibration”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.