sound English · revision 3478

+ English has four main words spelled ''sound'', of different origins.^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /saʊnd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|noise}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1280|origins=la sonus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The noise is [[inh|enm|soun]], [[bor|fro|son|t=sound, musical note, voice]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|sonus|t=sound, noise]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) from [[ine-pro|*swen-|t=to sound]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988) the root also of Sanskrit svánati “it sounds” and Old English swinn “melody”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) The final -d is unetymological and was established between about 1350 and 1550.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) The verb is [[inh|enm|sounen]], from [[m|fro|soner]] and directly from [[m|la|sonāre|t=to sound]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ What is heard: about 1280, ''soun'',^(Barnhart 1988) or the late 13th century;^(Etymonline) the OED's earliest quotation for a particular auditory effect is from 1297.^(OED 1989) The verb “to make a sound” is from the early 13th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb “to cause an instrument to sound” is from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) “To seem, give an impression”, as in ''it sounds good'', developed from the verb.^(AHD)^(OED 1989) ''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.^(Etymonline) The ''sounding board'' was first a canopy over a pulpit, from 1766.^(Etymonline) ''Sound off'', “to speak out loudly, complain”, is from 1918, American.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * early 13th century – verb, to make a sound.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1280 – noun, ''soun''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1350–1550 – the spelling with ''-d''.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – verb, to play an instrument.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1848 – ''sound wave''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1909 – ''sound effect''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1918 – ''sound off''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1939 – ''sound barrier''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Vibrations in the air or another medium that can be heard by the ear.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The sensation produced in the ear by such vibrations; a [[noise]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A distinctive sound, as of a style of music; a speech sound.^(AHD)

+ # The impression given by something said or written: ''the sound of the plan''.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or give forth a sound.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To give a particular impression; to seem.^(AHD)

+ # To cause to make a sound; to signal by a sound: ''sound the alarm''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To [[pronounce]].^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[soundproof]]

+ * [[soundtrack]]

+ * [[sound effect]]

+ * [[sound barrier]]

+ * [[soundless]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|healthy}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725 (Beowulf)|origins=gmw-pro *sund}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The healthy is [[inh|enm|sund]], [[inh|ang|gesund|t=sound, safe, healthy]], with loss of the prefix,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*sundaz]],^(Etymonline) West Germanic.^(SOED 2002)^(COED 2004) Its cognates include [[osx|gisund]], [[ofs|sund]], [[nl|gezond]] and [[de|gesund|t=healthy]], as in [[gesundheit]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) Merriam-Webster and Etymonline relate Gothic swinþs “strong”.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Unhurt, healthy: Old English ''gesund'', about 725, in ''Beowulf'',^(Barnhart 1988) and Middle English ''sund'' before 1200, in Layamon.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Safe and sound'' has been paired alliteratively since about 1300.^(Etymonline) “Free from defect, decay or damage” is from about 1290.^(OED 1989) “Correct, in accord with the facts” is from the mid-15th century,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) “holding accepted opinions” from the 1520s, and of arguments, “without logical flaw”, from the 1570s.^(Etymonline) Of sleep, “undisturbed”, it is from the 1540s,^(Etymonline) and ''to sleep sound'' from before 1400.^(OED 1989) “Financially secure” is from about 1600.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''gesund'' (''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1290 – free from damage.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – ''safe and sound''.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-15th century – correct.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1540s – of sleep, deep.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1570s – of arguments, valid.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1600 – financially secure.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Free from defect, decay or damage; free from disease or injury.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Having a firm basis; financially secure.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Based on valid reasoning; sensible.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Thorough; deep and unbroken: ''a sound sleep''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Thoroughly, deeply: ''sound asleep''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[soundly]]

+ * [[soundness]]

+ * [[unsound]]

+

+ {{homograph|3|channel of water}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1300 (King Horn)|origins=gem-pro *sundą}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The channel is [[inh|enm|sound]], partly [[inh|ang|sund|t=swimming; a stretch of water, the sea]] and partly from the Scandinavian cognate, [[non|sund|t=a strait, swimming]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*sundą]],^(Etymonline) from the base of [[swim]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A narrow channel of water, a strait: before 1300, in ''King Horn'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) or about 1300.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English the word could still mean “swimming, the ability to swim”, an Old English sense.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The swim bladder of a fish, especially the cod, is a ''sound'' from 1323–4,^(OED 1989) a sense still used in Scotland and Yorkshire.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – a strait (''King Horn'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1323–4 – a fish's swim bladder.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A long, wide body of water connecting larger bodies of water; a [[strait]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A long ocean [[inlet]].^(AHD)

+ # The [[swim bladder]] of a fish.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ {{homograph|4|measure depth, probe}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1385 (Chaucer)|origins=fro sonder}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The probing is [[inh|enm|sounden]], [[bor|fro|sonder|t=to use the sounding line]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|fro|sonde|t=sounding line]], probably of Germanic origin,^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2000) perhaps the source of Old English [[m|ang|sund|t=water, sea]], as in sundlīne “sounding line”.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024) The SOED, the COED and Hoad derive it instead from a Romance verb *subundāre, from Latin [[m|la|sub|t=under]] and [[m|la|unda|t=wave]],^(SOED 2002)^(COED 2004)^(Hoad 1986) a theory that Barnhart dismisses.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To sink in, penetrate: about 1385, in Chaucer's ''Troilus and Criseyde'',^(Barnhart 1988) and to measure the depth of water before 1460^(Barnhart 1988) or the mid-14th century, implied in ''sounding''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense “to try to discover what is concealed, find out someone's views” is from the 1570s.^(Etymonline) A surgeon's probe is a ''sound'' from 1797,^(OED 1989) or 1739 in Merriam-Webster.^(MW Collegiate) Of a whale, “to dive deep”, the verb is an American use.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1385 – to penetrate (Chaucer).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1460 – to measure the depth of water.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1570s – to find out someone's views.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1797 – noun, a surgical probe.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To measure the depth of water, as with a weighted line; to [[fathom]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To try to learn the opinions of: ''sound out''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To examine a body cavity with a probe.^(AHD)

+ # Of a whale, to dive swiftly downward.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A slender instrument for examining body cavities; a [[probe]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==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.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}