HARMONIC

consonant, harmonic, harmonical, harmonized, harmonised

(adjective) involving or characterized by harmony

harmonic, sympathetic

(adjective) relating to vibrations that occur as a result of vibrations in a nearby body; “sympathetic vibration”

harmonic

(adjective) of or relating to harmony as distinct from melody and rhythm; “subtleties of harmonic change and tonality”- Ralph Hill

harmonic

(adjective) of or relating to the branch of acoustics that studies the composition of musical sounds; “the sound of the resonating cavity cannot be the only determinant of the harmonic response”

harmonic

(adjective) of or relating to harmonics

harmonic

(noun) any of a series of musical tones whose frequencies are integral multiples of the frequency of a fundamental

harmonic

(noun) a tone that is a component of a complex sound

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

harmonic (comparative more harmonic, superlative most harmonic)

pertaining to harmony

pleasant to hear; harmonious; melodious

(mathematics) used to characterize various mathematical entities or relationships supposed to bear some resemblance to musical consonance

recurring periodically

(phonology) Exhibiting or applying constraints on what vowels (e.g. front/back vowels only) may be found near each other and sometimes in the entire word.

(Australianist linguistics) Of or relating to a generation an even number of generations distant from a particular person.

Noun

harmonic (plural harmonics)

(physics) A component frequency of the signal of a wave that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency.

(music) The place where, on a bowed string instrument, a note in the harmonic series of a particular string can be played without the fundamental present.

(math) One of a class of functions that enter into the development of the potential of a nearly spherical mass due to its attraction.

(CB radio slang) One's child.

Anagrams

• choirman, chromian, omniarch, rahmonic

Source: Wiktionary


Har*mon"ic, Har*mon"ic*al (, a. Etym: [L. harmonicus, Gr. harmonique. See Harmony.]

1. Concordant; musical; consonant; as, harmonic sounds. Harmonic twang! of leather, horn, and brass. Pope.

2. (Mus.)

Definition: Relating to harmony, -- as melodic relates to melody; harmonious; esp., relating to the accessory sounds or overtones which accompany the predominant and apparent single tone of any string or sonorous body.

3. (Math.)

Definition: Having relations or properties bearing some resemblance to those of musical consonances; -- said of certain numbers, ratios, proportions, points, lines. motions, and the like. Harmonic interval (Mus.), the distance between two notes of a chord, or two consonant notes.

– Harmonical mean (Arith. & Alg.), certain relations of numbers and quantities, which bear an analogy to musical consonances.

– Harmonic motion, the motion of the point A, of the foot of the perpendicular PA, when P moves uniformly in the circumference of a circle, and PA is drawn perpendicularly upon a fixed diameter of the circle. This is simple harmonic motion. The combinations, in any way, of two more simple harmonic motions, make other kinds of harmonic motion. The motion of the pendulum bob of a clock is approximately simple harmonic motion.

– Harmonic proportion. See under Proportion.

– Harmonic series or progression. See under Progression.

– Spherical harmonic analysis, a mathematical method, sometimes referred to as that of Laplace's Coefficients, which has for its object the expression of an arbitrary, periodic function of two independent variables, in the proper form for a large class of physical problems, involving arbitrary data, over a spherical surface, and the deduction of solutions for every point of space. The functions employed in this method are called spherical harmonic functions. Thomson & Tait.

– Harmonic suture (Anat.), an articulation by simple apposition of comparatively smooth surfaces or edges, as between the two superior maxillary bones in man; -- called also harmonic, and harmony.

– Harmonic triad (Mus.), the chord of a note with its third and fifth; the common chord.

Har*mon"ic, n. (Mus.)

Definition: A musical note produced by a number of vibrations which is a multiple of the number producing some other; an overtone. See Harmonics.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

23 November 2024

THEORETICAL

(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

International Coffee Day (September 29) is an occasion to promote and celebrate coffee as a beverage, with events occurring in places across the world. A day to promote fair trade coffee and raise awareness for the coffee growers’ plight. Other countries celebrate this event on October 1.

coffee icon