ultrasonic etymology

Etymology:

• Ultra-: Latin for "beyond"
• Sonic: Derived from Latin "sonus," meaning "sound"

Meaning:

Ultrasonic refers to mechanical vibrations with frequencies above the upper limit of human hearing, typically considered to be around 20,000 Hertz (20 kHz).

Origin:

The term "ultrasonic" was first used in the early 20th century to describe high-frequency sound waves that were beyond the range of human perception. The first recorded usage of the term was in 1910 by a physicist named Charles Vernon Boys.

Boys used an electrostatic vibrator to generate high-frequency vibrations in a quartz rod, and he measured the wavelengths of the corresponding sound waves. He found that some of the sound waves had wavelengths that were shorter than the size of the atoms in the quartz, and he coined the term "ultrasonic" to describe these high-frequency waves.

Initially, ultrasonic vibrations were studied primarily as a scientific curiosity, but in the following years, they began to find practical applications in a variety of fields, including:

• Medicine (ultrasound imaging, lithotripsy)
• Industrial cleaning and materials testing
• Non-destructive testing (NDE)
• Sonar and other underwater applications

ultrasonic relate terms

• sonic

  Etymology The word sonic originates from the Latin word sonus meaning sound Mean

• supersonic

  Etymology The word supersonic is derived from the Latin prefix super meaning above

• sonic

  Etymology The word sonic originates from the Latin word sonus meaning sound Mean

• ultrasonic

  Etymology Ultra Latin for beyond Sonic Derived from Latin sonus meaning sound

• percussion

  Etymology Latin percutere to strike through beat upon Proto Indo European per

• clock

  Etymology Middle English clokke from Old English clucge Germanic origin Proto German

• mercurial

  Etymology Latin mercurialis from Greek hermaion from Greek Hermes the Greek

• tragedy

  Etymology The word tragedy comes from the Ancient Greek word τραγωδία trago

• connoisseur

  Etymology French connoisseur Latin cognoscere to know to be acquainted with

• resilience

  Etymology Latin resilient springing back French résilient elastic springy

• vaccination

  Etymology The word vaccination is derived from the Latin word vacca meaning cow

• obey

  Etymology Old French obéir Latin obedire Ob meaning towards audire meaning t

• almond

  Etymology The word almond comes from the Latin word amygdăla which in turn is deri

• brainstorm

  Etymology Origin Old Norse brainstormr Components brá brow forehead steinn