reverberate
/ɹɪˈvɜːbəˌɹeɪt/
reverberate means to cause (a sound) to be (repeatedly) bounced against one or more surfaces; to re-echo.
reverberate is pronounced /ɹɪˈvɜːbəˌɹeɪt/.
Why “reverberate” is a great word
To resound or re-echo repeatedly, as a sound wave reflecting off surfaces. From the Latin reverberatus, past participle of reverberare ("to beat back, repel"), from re- ("back, again") and verberare ("to beat, lash"), from verber ("rod, lash"), first recorded in English use 1540–50. Unlike "echo," which denotes a single, distinct repetition, or "resound," which emphasizes a simple, loud filling of space, to reverberate is to dwell in the complex, decaying anatomy of sound itself. It is the cathedral bell dissolving into a bronze haze within the vaulted stone, the last chord of a piano lingering in the dusty air of an empty hall, or the distant thunder rolling and folding in upon itself long after the lightning has vanished—a testament to how the most powerful events are defined not by their occurrence, but by their slow, persistent surrender to silence.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin reverberātus, perfect passive participle of reverberō (“to rebound; to reflect; to repel”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), whence Middle French reverberer (French réverbérer) and Middle English reverberen (“to send back”)), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) and verberō (“to beat; to lash, whip”) (from verber (“rod; lash, whip”) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).
verb
- To cause (a sound) to be (repeatedly) bounced against one or more surfaces; to re-echo.“[N]o man is the Lord of any thing: / Though in and of him there be much conſiſting, / Till he communicate his parts to others, / Nor doth hee of himſelfe knovv them for aught: / Till he behold them formed in the applauſe. / VVhere th'are extended: vvho like an arch reuerb'rate / The voice againe or like a gate of ſteele: / Fronting the Sunne, receiues and renders back / His figure and his heate.”
- Followed by on (to): to deflect or divert (flames, heat, etc.) on to something.“Flame is reverberated in a furnace.”
- To heat (something) by deflecting flames on to, or passing flames over, it.“Svb[tle]. […] I ſent you of his fæces there, calcin'd. / Out of that calx, I'ha'vvonne the ſalt of Mercurie. / Mam[mon]. By pouring on your rectefied vvater? / Svb. Yes, and reuerberating in Athanor.”
- To repeatedly reflect (heat, light, or other radiation).“Fifteen Moſques profeſſe their bravery, […] the tops dignified by many double guilded creſcents or ſpires vvhich gallantly reverberate Apollo’s yellovv flames [sunbeams] in a rich and delightfull ſplendor.”
- To drive, force, or push (someone or something) back; to repel, to repulse.“This banke is ſo neceſſary a defence for the Citie, that it ſerueth in ſteed of a ſtrong vvall to repulſe and reuerberate the violence of the furious vvaues of the Sea.”
- To send (something) back from where it came.
- Of light or sound: to fall on or hit (a surface or other thing); also, to fill or spread throughout (a space or other thing).“Hovv ſtill your voice vvith prudent diſcipline / My Prentize ear doth oft reverberate; […]”
- To beat or hit (something) repeatedly.
- Of sound: to (repeatedly) bounce against one or more surfaces; to echo or re-echo, to resound.“[There were] innumerable Rills and Brooks of VVater falling from the Clifts, making a barbarous and unpleaſant Sound; and that Sound eccho'd and reverberated from innumerable Cavities and Hollovvs among the Rocks, […]”
- Chiefly followed by to or with: of a place or thing: to ring or vibrate with many echoing sounds; to re-echo, to resound.“This Revievv is in the firſt place entituled, An Eccho from the Sixth Trumpet; becauſe, it alluſively reverberateth, and Ecchoes, as it vvere, to vvhat vvas predicted ſhould come to paſs betvveen the ſounding of the Sixth and Seventh Trumpet [referred to in the Book of Revelation.]”
- Often followed by from: of heat or (less commonly) light: to be (repeatedly) reflected.
- Of information, news, etc.: to be spread widely through repetition.“They vvait till ſomething nevv comes out from others, examine its merits, and reject it, or make it reverberate throughout the reſt of Europe.”
- Of a thing: to have lasting and often significant effects.“The shock—the shout—the groan of war— / Reverberate along that vale, / More suited to the shepherd's tale: […]”
- Of a thing: to be heated by having flames, hot gases, etc., deflected or passed over it.
- To deflect or divert flames, hot gases, etc., on or into something.
adj
- Synonym of reverberant (“that tends to reverberate (“(repeatedly) bounce against one or more surfaces”) or has reverberated”); re-echoed.“So vvith reuerberate ſhoutes our Globe ſhall ring, / The Muſicks cloſe being thus: God ſaue our King.”
- Ringing or vibrating with many echoing sounds; re-echoing, resounding, reverberating.“Make me a vvillovv Cabine at your gate, / And call vpon my ſoule vvithin the houſe, / […] / Hallovv your name to the reuerberate hilles, / And make the babling Goſsip of the aire, / Cry out Oliuia: […]”
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