Acoustics

How to spell acoustics

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce acoustics

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does acoustics mean?

1. nounThe properties of a room or space that determine how clearly sound is heard within it.
2. nounThe branch of physics concerned with the properties and behaviour of sound.

Acoustics in a sentence

• The concert hall is famous for its warm acoustics.

• She studied acoustics as part of her physics degree.

• Poor acoustics in the office made every phone call echo.

• Acoustics explains how sound waves bounce off hard surfaces.

Where does acoustics come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek akoustikos, meaning 'relating to hearing', which was built on the verb akouein, 'to hear'. In the seventeenth century, scientists began using the related term to name the formal study of sound, following the same naming pattern as 'mathematics' and 'physics', where the plural-looking ending marks a branch of knowledge. English adopted 'acoustics' in the early eighteenth century, when natural philosophers were systematically investigating how sound is produced and travels. From the pure science the word also drifted into everyday use to describe the sound qualities of a particular room or hall. The trap in spelling is the silent flow of the 'acou-' opening, where the Greek 'ak' sound is written with a 'c', and the unstressed vowels give no hint that 'cous' rather than 'cus' or 'cou' is correct.

How the word is built

• acous- (from Greek akoustikos: relating to hearing)
• -tics (noun suffix forming a field of study)