sound

pronunciation

How to pronounce sound in British English: UK [saʊnd] word uk audio image

How to pronounce sound in American English: US [saʊnd] word us audio image

Noun:

the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
the subjective sensation of hearing something
mechanical vibrations transmitted by an elastic medium
the sudden occurrence of an audible event
the audible part of a transmitted signal
(phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language
a narrow channel of the sea joining two larger bodies of water
a large ocean inlet or deep bay
Verb:

appear in a certain way
make a certain noise or sound
give off a certain sound or sounds
announce by means of a sound
utter with vibrating vocal chords
cause to sound
measure the depth of (a body of water) with a sounding line
Adjective:

financially secure and safe
exercising or showing good judgment
in good condition; free from defect or damage or decay
in excellent physical condition
reflects weight of sound argument or evidence
having legal efficacy or force
free from moral defect
(of sleep) deep and complete
thorough
Adverb:

deeply or completely

Word Origin

sound: sound: English has no fewer than four distinct words sound. The oldest, ‘channel, strait’ [OE], originally meant ‘swimming’. It came from a prehistoric Germanic *sundam, a derivative of the base *sum-, *swem- ‘swim’ (source of English swim). The sense ‘channel’ was adopted from a related Scandinavian word (such as Danish sund) in the 15th century. Sound ‘undamaged’ [12] is a shortened version of Old English gesund, which went back to prehistoric West Germanic *gasundaz, a word of uncertain origin.Its modern relatives, German gesund and Dutch gezond ‘well, healthy’, retain the ancestral prefix. Sound ‘noise’ [13] comes via Anglo-Norman soun from Latin sonus ‘sound’, a relative of Sanskrit svan- ‘make a noise’. Amongst the Latin word’s many other contributions to English are consonant, dissonant [15], resonant [16], sonata [17] (via Italian), sonorous [17], and sonnet. Sound ‘plumb the depths’ [14] (as in sounding line) comes via Old French sonder from Vulgar Latin *subundāre, a compound verb formed from Latin sub- ‘under’ and unda ‘wave’ (source of English undulate).=> swim; consonant, dissonant, resonant, sonata, sonnet, sonorous; surround, undulate

sound (n.1): "noise, what is heard, sensation produced through the ear," late 13c., soun, from Old French son "sound, musical note, voice," from Latin sonus "sound, a noise," from PIE *swon-o-, from root *swen- "to sound" (cognates: Sanskrit svanati "it sounds," svanah "sound, tone;" Latin sonare "to sound;" Old Irish senim "the playing of an instrument;" Old English geswin "music, song," swinsian "to sing;" Old Norse svanr, Old English swan "swan," properly "the sounding bird"). The terminal -d was established c. 1350-1550 as part of a tendency to add -d- after -n-. First record of sound barrier is from 1939. Sound check is from 1977; sound effects is 1909, originally live accompaniments to silent films. The experts of Victor ... will ... arrange for the synchronized orchestration and sound effects for this picture, in which airplane battles will have an important part. ["Exhibitor's Herald & Moving Picture World," April 28, 1928]

sound (adj.): "free from special defect or injury," c. 1200, from Old English gesund "sound, safe, having the organs and faculties complete and in perfect action," from Proto-Germanic *sunda-, from Germanic root *swen-to- "healthy, strong" (cognates: Old Saxon gisund, Old Frisian sund, Dutch gezond, Old High German gisunt, German gesund "healthy," as in the post-sneezing interjection gesundheit; also Old English swið "strong," Gothic swinþs "strong," German geschwind "fast, quick"), with connections in Indo-Iranian and Balto-Slavic. Meaning "right, correct, free from error" is from mid-15c. Meaning "financially solid or safe" is attested from c. 1600; of sleep, "undisturbed," from 1540s. Sense of "holding accepted opinions" is from 1520s.

sound (v.2): "fathom, probe, measure the depth of," mid-14c. (implied in sounding), from Old French sonder, from sonde "sounding line," perhaps from the same Germanic source that yielded Old English sund "water, sea" (see sound (n.2)). Barnhart dismisses the old theory that it is from Latin subundare. Figurative use from 1570s.

sound (n.2): "narrow channel of water," c. 1300, from Old Norse sund "a strait, swimming," or from cognate Old English sund "act of swimming, stretch of water one can swim across, a strait of the sea," both from Proto-Germanic *sundam-, from *swum-to-, suffixed form of Germanic root *swem- "to move, stir, swim" (see swim (v.)).

sound (v.1): early 13c., sounen "to be audible, produce vibrations affecting the ear," from Old French soner (Modern French sonner) and directly from Latin sonare "to sound" (see sonata). From late 14c. as "cause something (an instrument, etc.) to produce sound." Related: Sounded; sounding.