Reverberation

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɹiˈvɜː(ɹ)bəɹeɪʃən/

Definitions

1. The persistence of sound in a space as acoustic waves reflect off surfaces before gradually fading away
2. The phenomenon of sound bouncing repeatedly off surrounding surfaces and persisting in a space before dissipating
3. Sound waves that reflect multiple times within an enclosed area, creating a prolonged acoustic effect after the original noise stops

Etymology: The English word comes to us through Old French, but its Latin ancestor was a physical image before it was an acoustic one. Latin "reverberare" combined "re-" (back) with "verberare," meaning to strike or beat, so to reverberate was literally to beat back. A Roman might use the verb of a blow driven back against a wall or of light flung back from a surface. The word passed through Medieval Latin "reverberatio" into Old French "reverberation," and English took it from there. Its shape reveals how it was built: the verb "reverberate" with the suffix "-ion," which turns an action into the noun naming that action. The sense of sound bouncing repeatedly around a closed space developed later, and the original idea of striking back survives in the notion of an echo returning to its source.

Synonyms: echo, reflection