sound
English has four main words spelled sound, of different origins.[1][2]
Pronunciation
- IPA: /saʊnd/[3]
sound1 noise
Etymology
The noise is inherited from Middle English soun, borrowed from Old French son (“sound, musical note, voice”),[4][2] from Latin sonus (“sound, noise”),[4][2][5] from Proto-Indo-European *swen- (“to sound”),[4][1][2] the root also of Sanskrit svánati “it sounds” and Old English swinn “melody”.[2][6] The final -d is unetymological and was established between about 1350 and 1550.[4][7] The verb is inherited from Middle English sounen, from soner and directly from sonāre (“to sound”).[4][8]
Earliest recorded meaning
What is heard: about 1280, soun,[2] or the late 13th century;[4] the OED's earliest quotation for a particular auditory effect is from 1297.[9] The verb “to make a sound” is from the early 13th century.[4]
Semantic evolution
The verb “to cause an instrument to sound” is from the late 14th century.[4] “To seem, give an impression”, as in it sounds good, developed from the verb.[10][9] Sound wave is by 1848, sound effect by 1909, at first live accompaniment to silent films, sound barrier from 1939 and sound check by 1977.[4] The sounding board was first a canopy over a pulpit, from 1766.[4] Sound off, “to speak out loudly, complain”, is from 1918, American.[9]
Timeline
- early 13th century – verb, to make a sound.[4]
- c. 1280 – noun, soun.[2]
- c. 1350–1550 – the spelling with -d.[4]
- late 14th century – verb, to play an instrument.[4]
- 1848 – sound wave.[4]
- 1909 – sound effect.[4]
- 1918 – sound off.[9]
- 1939 – sound barrier.[4]
Modern meaning
Noun
- Vibrations in the air or another medium that can be heard by the ear.
- The sensation produced in the ear by such vibrations; a noise.
- A distinctive sound, as of a style of music; a speech sound.
- The impression given by something said or written: the sound of the plan.
Verb
- To make or give forth a sound.
- To give a particular impression; to seem.
- To cause to make a sound; to signal by a sound: sound the alarm.
- To pronounce.
Word family
- soundproof
- soundtrack
- sound effect
- sound barrier
- soundless
sound2 healthy
Etymology
The healthy is inherited from Middle English sund, inherited from Old English gesund (“sound, safe, healthy”), with loss of the prefix,[2][4][11] from Proto-Germanic *sundaz,[4] West Germanic.[7][12] Its cognates include Old Saxon gisund, Old Frisian sund, Dutch gezond and German gesund (“healthy”), as in gesundheit.[4][7] Merriam-Webster and Etymonline relate Gothic swinþs “strong”.[8][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
Unhurt, healthy: Old English gesund, about 725, in Beowulf,[2] and Middle English sund before 1200, in Layamon.[2]
Semantic evolution
Safe and sound has been paired alliteratively since about 1300.[4] “Free from defect, decay or damage” is from about 1290.[9] “Correct, in accord with the facts” is from the mid-15th century,[4][11] “holding accepted opinions” from the 1520s, and of arguments, “without logical flaw”, from the 1570s.[4] Of sleep, “undisturbed”, it is from the 1540s,[4] and to sleep sound from before 1400.[9] “Financially secure” is from about 1600.[4]
Timeline
- c. 725 – Old English gesund (Beowulf).[2]
- c. 1290 – free from damage.[9]
- c. 1300 – safe and sound.[4]
- mid-15th century – correct.[4]
- 1540s – of sleep, deep.[4]
- 1570s – of arguments, valid.[4]
- c. 1600 – financially secure.[4]
Modern meaning
Adjective
- Free from defect, decay or damage; free from disease or injury.
- Having a firm basis; financially secure.
- Based on valid reasoning; sensible.
- Thorough; deep and unbroken: a sound sleep.
Adverb
- Thoroughly, deeply: sound asleep.
Word family
- soundly
- soundness
- unsound
sound3 channel of water
Etymology
The channel is inherited from Middle English sound, partly inherited from Old English sund (“swimming; a stretch of water, the sea”) and partly from the Scandinavian cognate, Old Norse sund (“a strait, swimming”),[2][4][8] from Proto-Germanic *sundą,[4] from the base of swim.[4][7][11]
Earliest recorded meaning
A narrow channel of water, a strait: before 1300, in King Horn,[2][9] or about 1300.[4]
Semantic evolution
In Middle English the word could still mean “swimming, the ability to swim”, an Old English sense.[4][9] The swim bladder of a fish, especially the cod, is a sound from 1323–4,[9] a sense still used in Scotland and Yorkshire.[13]
Timeline
Modern meaning
Noun
- A long, wide body of water connecting larger bodies of water; a strait.
- A long ocean inlet.
- The swim bladder of a fish.
sound4 measure depth, probe
Etymology
The probing is inherited from Middle English sounden, borrowed from Old French sonder (“to use the sounding line”),[2][4][8] from sonde (“sounding line”), probably of Germanic origin,[8][1] perhaps the source of Old English sund (“water, sea”), as in sundlīne “sounding line”.[4][6][8] The SOED, the COED and Hoad derive it instead from a Romance verb *subundāre, from Latin sub (“under”) and unda (“wave”),[7][12][11] a theory that Barnhart dismisses.[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
To sink in, penetrate: about 1385, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde,[2] and to measure the depth of water before 1460[2] or the mid-14th century, implied in sounding.[4]
Semantic evolution
The figurative sense “to try to discover what is concealed, find out someone's views” is from the 1570s.[4] A surgeon's probe is a sound from 1797,[9] or 1739 in Merriam-Webster.[6] Of a whale, “to dive deep”, the verb is an American use.[10]
Timeline
- c. 1385 – to penetrate (Chaucer).[2]
- before 1460 – to measure the depth of water.[2]
- 1570s – to find out someone's views.[4]
- 1797 – noun, a surgical probe.[9]
Modern meaning
Verb
- To measure the depth of water, as with a weighted line; to fathom.
- To try to learn the opinions of: sound out.
- To examine a body cavity with a probe.
- Of a whale, to dive swiftly downward.
Noun
- A slender instrument for examining body cavities; a probe.
Word family
- sounding
- sounding line
- echo sounder
Related words
- sonic
- sonnet
- resound
- swim
- swoon
- unison
Usage notes
A fifth sound, “a swoon, faint”, is a Scots and dialect variant of swoon with a parasitic d, from the 15th century.[7][9]
References
- ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)