resonant means resounding, echoing.
resonant is pronounced /ˈɹɛzənənt/.
Why “resonant” is a great word
Having the quality of resounding or echoing, often with a deep, full, and rich sound, or, in physics, adjusted to produce oscillations at a specific frequency. From the Latin re- ("again") and sonare ("to sound"), via French résonnant or directly from Latin resonantem, the present participle of resonare ("to sound again, to echo"), first attested in English in the 1570s. Unlike "remugient" (which rumbles and bellows) or "sonorous" (which rings with imposing weight), "resonant" describes sound deepened and enriched by its own lingering return. It is the bronze hum of a temple bell long after it has been struck, the low thrum of a cello string felt in the chest, and the rich, wood-paneled acoustics of an empty hall that transform a solitary footstep into a procession—the vibration that outlasts the initial note, proving that all sound is a form of memory.
Etymology
Borrowed from French résonnant or Latin resonantem.
adj
- Resounding, echoing.“From across the valley came the resonant sound of a distant church bell.”
- Adjusted as to dimensions so that currents or electric surgings are produced by the passage of electric waves of a given frequency.
noun
- A sonorant vowel or consonant.
- A sonorant vowel or consonant.; Any of the Proto-Indo-European consonants *l, *m, *n, *r, *w (*u̯), and *y (*i̯) or its descendants in an Indo-European language, capable of syllabic pronunciation in the zero grade and represented by the cover symbol ⟨R⟩ in structural notation.
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