ressonância

Forms

ressonância f (plural ressonâncias)^[1] The first record, of 1624, is spelt resonancia, and Morais (1789) and Vieira (1871–1874) still head the word so.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin resonantia (“echo, reverberation”).^[2][5][1] Cunha dates it to the 16th century, Houaiss to 1624.^[5][2] Nascentes calls it semi-learned, and Wiktionary notes that it can also be analysed as ressonar with the suffix -ância.^[6][1]

In Latin the noun is rare: the OLD records it only in Vitruvius, for the tendency of a place to return sounds.^[7] It is formed from resonāns (“resounding”) with the suffix -ia.^[1][7] The participle belongs to resonō (“to resound, echo”), from re- (“back”) and sonō (“to sound”), which de Vaan derives from Proto-Indo-European *swenH- (“to sound”).^[8]

The same Latin noun is the source of Spanish resonancia, Catalan ressonància and Italian risonanza; French résonance is formed in French from résonner.^[1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record, of 1624, is spelt resonancia, in the sense of the repercussion of sounds.^[2] Morais's dictionary of 1789 glosses it “echo”, with resonancia da voz as an example, and Vieira repeats the phrase.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The old Caldas Aulete defined it as a property of physics, the power to increase the duration or intensity of a sound, and also used it figuratively for an inner echo.^[10] Modern dictionaries add the physical resonance of a system vibrating at its own frequency, a sense in phonetics (the vibration of the air in the cavities above the larynx), one in chemistry (mesomerism), one in particle physics and the sound heard when the chest is percussed.^[2][11] The figurative sense “impact, repercussion” is also current.^[10][12] In colloquial medical use ressonância alone stands for magnetic resonance imaging, ressonância magnética.^[1][2]

Timeline

• 16th century – Cunha's date for the word.^[5]
• 1624 – first dated record, spelt resonancia.^[2]
• 1789 – Morais glosses resonancia as “echo”.^[3]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira still heads the word resonancia.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The repercussion, prolongation or amplification of sounds; an echo.^[2][12][13]
2. The quality of being resonant; the property of a place that increases the duration or intensity of sound.^[2][11][12]
3. (physics) The state of a system that vibrates with greatly increased amplitude when stimulated at one of its own frequencies; also the transfer of energy between two systems oscillating at the same frequency.^[2][11]
4. (figurative) Impact, repercussion: the effect something has on the public or on a person's mind.^[10][12]
5. (phonetics) The vibration of the air in the cavities above the glottis, which reinforces certain harmonics of a sound.^[2]
6. (chemistry) The property of some molecules of having two or more structural formulas that differ only in the position of the electrons; mesomeria.^[2]
7. (particle physics) A very short-lived elementary particle that can be understood as an excited state of another.^[2]
8. (medicine) The sound produced by percussion of the chest;^[2][1] (colloquial) short for ressonância magnética, magnetic resonance imaging.^[2][1]

Related words

• ressonante
• ressonar
• soar
• som
• Latin resonantia

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ressonância
3. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 333
4. ^ a b c Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 5, 246
5. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. som
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. ressonância
7. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. resonantia
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. sonō
9. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. resonancia
10. ^ a b c Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. ressonância
11. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. ressonância
12. ^ a b c d Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. ressonância
13. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. ressonância