frequency

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈfɹiːkwənsi/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin frequentia (“an assembling in great numbers, a crowd”),^[2][3][4] from frequēns (“crowded, frequent”) (see frequent).^[2][5] It gradually replaced Middle English frequence.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The state of being crowded, or a crowd: 1553–87 in the OED, the 1550s in Etymonline; the sense is obsolete.^[6][2] MWU dates its first sense to 1600.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Constant use or repetition is from 1615, and constant attendance or familiarity from 1642, both obsolete.^[6][3] The fact of occurring often is from 1641, the 1640s in Etymonline.^[6][2] In physics, the rate of recurrence of a regular event such as a vibration is from 1831,^[6][2] and in statistics the number of times something occurs in a sample from 1854.^[6] Frequency modulation, FM, is from 1922, distinguished from amplitude modulation (AM),^[2] and the particular frequency at which a radio station broadcasts is a later use.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 1553–87 – crowdedness.^[6]
• 1641 – frequent occurrence.^[6]
• 1831 – rate of recurrence (physics).^[6]
• 1854 – in statistics.^[6]
• 1922 – frequency modulation.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The rate at which something happens or is repeated over a period of time.
2. The fact of happening often.
3. (physics) The number of cycles of a wave or vibration per second.
4. The particular frequency of a radio signal or station.
5. (statistics) The number of times a value occurs in a sample.

Word family

• gyrofrequency
• infrequency
• overfrequency
• underfrequency
• angular frequency
• audio frequency
• extremely low frequency
• frequency band

Related words

• frequent
• frequentative
• frequently

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins