Etymologically
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ultrasound

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈʌl.tɹə.saʊnd/[1]

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]

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