Resonates

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈɹɛz.əˌneɪts/

Definitions

1. Produces or extends sound through vibration in an object or space ; evokes a deep emotional response or memory in a person
2. Causes sound waves to continue or amplify through reverberation ; brings about a powerful emotional or associative impression
3. Sustains or enhances auditory tones by sympathetic vibrations ; triggers a meaningful or strongly felt reaction in someone

Etymology: The verb "resonate" was borrowed from Latin "resonare", meaning "to resound" or "echo back". Its building blocks are simple: "re-", meaning "back" or "again", attached to "sonare", "to sound", which is itself tied to "sonus", "sound". So at its root, the word describes sound returning to where it came from, an echo bouncing back off a surface. The sense that most people now reach for, a thing striking a chord with someone emotionally, is a figurative extension built on that physical picture. A story that "resonates" bounces back off the listener in the way a struck bell sends its tone back into the room, and the metaphor has been carried over from acoustics into ordinary speech.

Synonyms: echoes, vibrates, reverberates, resounds, rings

Antonyms: muted, silences, dampens, quiets, stifles