Booming

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈbuːmɪŋ/

Definitions

1. Producing a deep, loud, resonant sound like a thunderous noise ; undergoing a period of rapid growth or great success typically in business or economy
2. Emitting a strong, echoing sound that fills a space ; flourishing quickly and becoming very prosperous, especially in economic contexts
3. Generating a powerful, low-frequency noise often associated with booming voices or explosions ; showing swift development and thriving strongly in performance or expansion

Etymology: The verb "boom" is onomatopoeic: its sound is meant to imitate the deep, resonant noise it describes. Its nearest relatives are German "bummen" and Dutch "bommen", both meaning "to hum" or "buzz", so the imitative idea is shared across neighbouring languages. The sense of a deep, echoing sound filling a space is the older core of the word, and it is what the adjective "booming" still carries when a voice or a drum fills a room. The economic sense is a different story. It is generally taken to grow out of the idea of rapid expansion, so that a market or town that swells quickly is said to "boom" in the way a sound swells. Other origins have also been proposed, so this link is not beyond dispute. Separately, the noun "boom", meaning a long pole or spar, is a different word. It was borrowed from Dutch "boom", meaning "tree" or "pole", and it is a doublet of "beam", two words that share an ancestor but came into English by different routes.

Synonyms: thriving, prospering, flourishing, expanding, growing

Antonyms: declining, failing, dwindling, shrinking, stagnating