sound
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /saʊnd/
Audio (GA) (file) - Rhymes: -aʊnd
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English sound, sund, isund, ȝesund, from Old English sund, ġesund (“sound, safe, whole, uninjured, healthy, prosperous”), from Proto-West Germanic *sund, from Proto-Germanic *gasundaz, *sundaz (“healthy”), from Proto-Indo-European *sunt-, *swent- (“vigorous, active, healthy”).
Cognate with Scots sound, soun (“healthy, sound”), Saterland Frisian suund, gesuund (“healthy”), West Frisian sûn (“healthy”), Dutch gezond (“healthy, sound”), Low German sund, gesund (“healthy”), German gesund (“healthy, sound”), Danish sund (“healthy”), Swedish sund (“sound, healthy”). Related also to Dutch gezwind (“fast, quick”), German geschwind (“fast, quick”), Old English swīþ (“strong, mighty, powerful, active, severe, violent”). See swith.
AdjectiveEdit
sound (comparative sounder, superlative soundest)
- Healthy.
- He was safe and sound.
- In horse management a sound horse is one with no health problems that might affect its suitability for its intended work.
- 1842 May 30, “Roscorla v. Thomas”, in Montagu[e] Chambers, editor, The Law Journal Reports for the Year 1842, volume XX (New Series – volume XI, part II), London: E. B. Ince, 5 Quality Court, Chancery Lane, →OCLC, pages 214–215:
- on the 29th of September 1840, in consideration that the plaintiff, at the request of the defendant, had bought of the defendant a certain horse, at a certain price, to wit, 30l., the defendant promised plaintiff that the horse did not exceed five years off, and that it was sound in wind and limb, perfect in vision, and free from vice; […]
- Complete, solid, or secure.
- Fred assured me the floorboards were sound.
- 1614–1615, Homer, “(please specify the book number)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume (please specify the book number), London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC:
- The brasswork here, how rich it is in beams,
And how, besides, it makes the whole house sound.
- 2021 November 17, Andrew Mourant, “Okehampton: a new dawn for Dartmoor”, in Rail, number 944, page 43:
- Refurbishing Okehampton station, kept basically sound under ownership by Devon Council, remains a work in progress and scheduled for completion next spring.
- (mathematics, logic) Having the property of soundness.
- Hypernym: valid
- 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page vii:
- With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get […]
- (Britain, Ireland, slang) Good; acceptable; decent.
- How are you? —I'm sound.
- That's a sound track you're playing.
- See that man over there? He's sound. You should get to know him.
- (of sleep) Quiet and deep.
- Sound asleep means sleeping peacefully, and often deeply.
- Her sleep was sound.
- Heavy; laid on with force.
- a sound beating
- Founded in law; legal; valid; not defective.
- a sound title to land
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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AdverbEdit
sound (comparative more sound, superlative most sound)
- Soundly.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 42:
- So ſound he ſlept, that nought mought him awake.
InterjectionEdit
sound
- (Britain, Ireland, slang) Yes; used to show agreement or understanding, generally without much enthusiasm.
- I found my jacket. — Sound.
Etymology 2Edit
- Noun: from Middle English sownde, alteration of soun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman sun, soun, Old French son, from accusative of Latin sonus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- (“to sound, resound”).
- Verb: from Middle English sownden, sounen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman suner, sounder, Old French soner (modern sonner), from Latin sonō.
- The hypercorrect -d appears in the fifteenth century. (Compare dialectal drownd, gownd for the same development.)
Displaced native Middle English swei, from Old English swēġ, from Proto-Germanic *swōgiz.
NounEdit
sound (countable and uncountable, plural sounds)
- A sensation perceived by the ear caused by the vibration of air or some other medium.
- He turned when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. Nobody made a sound.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
- The warlike sound
Of trumpets loud and clarions.
- A vibration capable of causing such sensations.
- 1820, Encyclopaedia Britannica; Or A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature[1], volume 20, 6th edition, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Company, page 501:
- In trumpets for assisting the hearing, all reverbation of the trumpet must be avoided. It must be made thick, of the least elastic materials, and covered with cloth externally. For all reverbation lasts for a short time, and produces new sounds which mix with those which are coming in.
- 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 01:
- It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. […]. He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts.
- (music) A distinctive style and sonority of a particular musician, orchestra, &.
- 1954, Valentine Davies & al., The Glenn Miller Story:
- He looks like he's got it, maybe. Listen to those kids!
There's no maybe about it. That's it, that's the sound.
- He looks like he's got it, maybe. Listen to those kids!
- 1954, Valentine Davies & al., The Glenn Miller Story:
- Noise without meaning; empty noise.
- 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], “Of Power”, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book I, § 18, page 23:
- For let us conſider this Prepoſition as to its meaning, (for it is the ſence, and not ſound, that is and muſt be the Principle or common Notion) […]
- Earshot, distance within which a certain noise may be heard.
- Stay within the sound of my voice.
- (phonetics) A segment as a part of spoken language, the smallest unit of spoken language, a speech sound.
SynonymsEdit
- See also Thesaurus:sound
DescendantsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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See alsoEdit
VerbEdit
sound (third-person singular simple present sounds, present participle sounding, simple past and past participle sounded)
- (intransitive) To produce a sound.
- When the horn sounds, take cover.
- (copulative) To convey an impression by one's sound.
- He sounded good when we last spoke.
- That story sounds like a pack of lies!
- c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
- How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues!
- (intransitive) To be conveyed in sound; to be spread or published; to convey intelligence by sound.
- 1560, [William Whittingham et al., transl.], The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. […] (the Geneva Bible), Geneva: […] Rouland Hall, →OCLC, I. Thessalonians I:8, folio 95, recto:
- For from you ſounded out the worde of the Lord, not in Macedonia & in Achaia onely: but your faith alſo which is towarde God, ſpred abroade in all quarters, that we nede not to ſpeake any thing.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To resound.
- (intransitive, law, often with in) To arise or to be recognizable as arising in or from a particular area of law, or as likely to result in a particular kind of legal remedy.
- 1999, Supreme Court of the United States, City of Monterey v. Del Monte Dunes at Montery, Ltd. et al.[2]:
- […] there can be no doubt that claims brought pursuant to § 1983 sound in tort.
- In my opinion this claim sounds in damages rather than in an injunction.
- (transitive) To cause to produce a sound.
- Sound the alarm!
- He sounds the instrument.
- (transitive, phonetics, of a vowel or consonant) To pronounce.
- The "e" in "house" isn't sounded.
SynonymsEdit
- (to make noise): echo, reecho, resonate
- See also Thesaurus:sound
Derived termsEdit
- by the sound of it
- empty vessels make the most sound
- high lonesome sound
- infrasound
- instantaneous sound pressure
- missound
- outsound
- second sound
- sound alphabet
- sound and light/sound-and-light show
- sound barrier
- sound bite/soundbite
- sound bow
- sound box
- sound camera
- sound card
- sound effect
- sound energy
- sound engineer
- sound engineering
- sound film
- sound hole
- sound law
- sound like
- sound man/soundman
- sound off
- sound out
- sound pollution
- sound pressure
- sound projection
- sound recording
- sound reproduction
- sound spectrum
- sound stage/soundstage
- sound structure
- sound system
- sound track/soundtrack
- sound truck
- sound wave
- sound-alike
- soundage
- sounded
- sounder
- soundex
- sounding board
- soundless
- soundproof/sound-proof
- soundscape
- soundset
- speech sound
- speed of sound
- surround-sound/surround sound
- third heart sound
- third sound
- ultrasound
- unsound
- voiced sound
TranslationsEdit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Etymology 3Edit
From Middle English sound, sund, from Old English sund (“the power, capacity, or act of swimming; swimming; sea; ocean; water; sound; strait; channel”), from Proto-Germanic *sundą (“swimming; sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *swem- (“swimming; sea”).
Cognate with Dutch zond (“sound; strait”), Danish sund (“sound; strait; channel”), Swedish sund (“sound; strait; channel”), Icelandic sund (“sound; strait; channel”). Related to swim.
NounEdit
sound (plural sounds)
- (geography) A long narrow inlet, or a strait between the mainland and an island; also, a strait connecting two seas, or connecting a sea or lake with the ocean.
- 1605, M. N. [pseudonym; William Camden], Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine, […], London: […] G[eorge] E[ld] for Simon Waterson, →OCLC:
- The Sound of Denmarke, where ships pay toll.
- The air bladder of a fish.
- Cod sounds are an esteemed article of food.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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Etymology 4Edit
From Middle English sounden, from Old French sonder, from sonde (“sounding line”) of Germanic origin, compare Old English sundgyrd (“a sounding rod”), sundline (“a sounding line”), Old English sund (“water, sea”). More at Etymology 3 above.
VerbEdit
sound (third-person singular simple present sounds, present participle sounding, simple past and past participle sounded)
- (intransitive) Dive downwards, used of a whale.
- The whale sounded and eight hundred feet of heavy line streaked out of the line tub before he ended his dive.
- To ascertain, or try to ascertain, the thoughts, motives, and purposes of (a person); to examine; to try; to test; to probe.
- When I sounded him, he appeared to favor the proposed deal.
- 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 23, column 1:
- Tell me moreouer, haſt thou ſounded him,
If he appeale the Duke on ancient malice,
Or worthily as a good ſubiect ſhould
On ſome knowne ground of treacherie in him.
- 1665, John Dryden, The Indian Emperour […][3], London: Printed by J.M. for H. Herringman, published 1667, Act IV, scene i, page 40:
- I was in Jeſt:
And by that offer meant to ſound your breaſt.
- 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1:
- I've sounded my Numidians man by man.
- Test; ascertain the depth of water with a sounding line or other device.
- Mariners on sailing ships would sound the depth of the water with a weighted rope.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii:
- As when the Sea-man […]
All fearefull foldes his ſailes, and ſounds the maine,
Lifting his prayers to the heauens for aid,
Againſt the terrour of the winds and waues.
- (medicine) To examine with the instrument called a sound or sonde, or by auscultation or percussion.
- to sound a patient, or the bladder or urethra
TranslationsEdit
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NounEdit
sound (plural sounds)
TranslationsEdit
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ReferencesEdit
- sound at OneLook Dictionary Search
- sound in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
AnagramsEdit
ItalianEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
sound m (invariable)
ReferencesEdit
- ^ sound in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)