resonate

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin resonātus, the past participle of resonō (“to produce a prolonged sound or echo, to resound”),^[2][3][4][5] which is formed from Latin re- (“back, again”) + sonō (“to sound”),^[2][3][6] from Proto-Indo-European *swen- (“to sound”).^[3][6] The same Latin verb is the source, through Old French resoner, of the earlier English verb resound.^[2][6][3] The OED thinks the senses of exhibiting resonance and of a sympathetic response probably follow the corresponding senses of resonance.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make a sound prolonged or echoed: 1648, in a pamphlet signed "Mercurio-Mastix Hibernicus", A Muzzle for Cerberus, and in the same year of a sound, to resound.^[2][4] Other dictionaries date the word much later: Etymonline to 1856, in anatomy, especially of auscultation,^[3] Dictionary.com to 1870–75,^[5] and the Oxford Dictionary of English and the Shorter Oxford to the late 19th century.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

The physical sense "to exhibit resonance" appears in 1845, in a book on auscultation,^[2] which agrees with Etymonline's account of the word's early medical use.^[3] A room or space could resonate, be filled with sound, from 1864.^[2] The figurative senses arose early in the 20th century, both in H. G. Wells: of a person responding sympathetically in 1903, and of something that strikes a chord in 1910;^[2] Etymonline, which dates the figurative sense only to 1978, says the word was literal at first.^[3] Technical senses followed in electronics (1904), to act as a resonator for, and in chemistry (1924), of a molecule alternating between structures.^[2] From 1955 it could also mean to abound or be filled with something.^[2]

Timeline

• 1648 – to cause a sound to be prolonged or echoed; of a sound, to resound.^[2][4] Etymonline dates the verb to 1856.^[3]
• 1845 – to exhibit or undergo resonance.^[2]
• 1864 – of a room or space, to be filled with sound.^[2]
• 1903 – of a person, to respond sympathetically.^[2]
• 1904 – in electronics, to act as a resonator for.^[2]
• 1910 – to evoke a response; to strike a chord.^[2] Etymonline dates the figurative sense to 1978.^[3]
• 1924 – in chemistry, of a molecule or bond, to exhibit resonance.^[2]
• 1955 – figurative, to be filled with something.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To produce, show or undergo resonance; to vibrate in sympathy with another source of sound or oscillation.^[4][9][2]
2. To resound or echo; of a place, to be filled with sound.^[9][2]
3. To produce a sympathetic response; to strike a chord, often followed by with: The film's message resonated with older viewers.^[9][2][4]
4. To be filled with a quality or feeling: a letter that resonates with regret.^[9][2]
5. (chemistry) Of a molecule or bond, to show resonance between different structures.^[9][2][8]
6. (electronics) To act as a resonator for; to amplify by resonance.^[4][2][8]

Word family

• resonation
• resonator

Related words

• resonance
• resonant
• resound
• sound
• sonant
• sonic
• sonorous

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins