echolocation
/ˌɛkoʊloʊˈkeɪʃən/
echolocation means the use of echoes to detect objects as observed in bats and other natural creatures. It carries an Arena rating of 1707, earned across 35 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, echolocation ranks #557 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,022 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #2,001 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #2,956 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words.
echolocation is pronounced /ˌɛkoʊloʊˈkeɪʃən/.
Why “echolocation” is a great word
ECHOLOCATION — [Noun] The biological process of determining the location of objects by interpreting the echoes of self-emitted sounds. Coined in 1944 by American zoologist Donald Griffin from 'echo' (a reflected sound) and 'location' (the act of placing or finding a position). Unlike “sonar” (a technological system for underwater detection) or “vision” (a largely passive sense relying on ambient light), echolocation is an active, biological probing of the dark. It is the intricate acoustic map a bat paints of a moth’s fluttering wings; the precise click-cast net a dolphin throws to find a fish in the featureless deep; the quiet, confident navigation through a world that offers no light to see by. It is perception as a form of whispered conversation with the void, a reminder that to know the world is sometimes to call out and listen for the shape of the answer.
Etymology
Coined by American zoologist Donald Griffin in 1944, from echo- + location.
noun
- The use of echoes to detect objects as observed in bats and other natural creatures.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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