ultrasound

Etymology

It is formed from English ultra- (“beyond”) + sound (“noise, what is heard”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} sound here being the noun meaning noise.^[2][5][6] The prefix is from Latin ultrā (“beyond, on the farther side”),^[4] which Etymonline derives from a suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European *al- (“beyond”);^[4] the noun sound came through son from Latin sonus (“a sound, a noise”).^[4] The adjective ultrasonic is recorded from the same year, 1923, and in the same journal.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sound waves or vibrations of a frequency higher than the human ear can hear: 1923, in the Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada.^[2][3] Etymonline dates the word to 1911,^[4] and Dictionary.com to 1920–25.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word first named the physical phenomenon, sound above about 20,000 hertz, and soon also the techniques that use it.^[2][7] Its use for detection and medical diagnosis is recorded from 1958,^[4] and it came to mean above all the forming of an image of the inside of the body, as of a developing fetus, and then a single examination of this kind.^[3][8][5] Merriam-Webster gives supersound as an older synonym of the first sense, and echography and sonography for the diagnostic technique.^[3] Collins lists other uses of the waves: cleaning metal parts, echo sounding and therapy.^[7]

Timeline

• 1911 – first date given by Etymonline.^[4]
• 1923 – sound waves above the range of human hearing; ultrasonic techniques.^[2][3]
• 1958 – of ultrasonic detection and medical diagnosis.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Sound or vibrations with a frequency above the range of human hearing, above about 20 kilohertz.^[3][7][2]
2. The use of such waves in medicine, especially to form an image of internal organs or a fetus; sonography: The clinic uses ultrasound to check the kidneys.^[3][8]
3. A diagnostic examination made with ultrasound; a scan.^[3][5]

Related words

• ultrasonic
• ultrasonics
• sonic
• supersonic
• sound

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin