Hydrophone

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A device used underwater to listen to or record sound waves beneath the surface
2. An instrument designed to pick up noises in aquatic environments, capturing sound traveling through water
3. A specialized microphone that operates underwater to detect and monitor underwater acoustic signals

Etymology: "Hydrophone" is a plain compound: "hydro-", from Greek "hydōr" meaning "water", joined to "-phone", from Greek "phōnē" meaning "sound" or "voice". The second element is the same one found in "telephone" and "microphone", so a hydrophone is, literally, an underwater sound-catcher. Its formation follows the pattern of those older coinages, built from Greek parts to name a new device. The word is a technical coinage rather than an ancient one. Ancient Greeks had no such instrument, so the term reflects the modern invention of devices for listening through water, not any classical usage. The parts themselves are old, but the combined word belongs to the era of electrical sound equipment.

Synonyms: underwater microphone, submarine microphone