noun / verb
echo
EK-oh/ˈɛkoʊ/
A reflected repetition of a sound or signal.
The hiker hears an echo of the clap returning from a distant surface.
Etymology
Greek ēkhō named the reflected sound and was personified as the nymph Echo. In the myth, she faded away until only her voice remained—an image of sound surviving without a visible speaker.
In context
the reflection of sound waves of a surface and back to the listener is its echo outdoors particularly in valleys sound waves will reflect off distant surfaces before reaching a listener's ears
More examples
- Footsteps echo through the empty hallway.
- The radar measures the delay before each echo returns.
- Our voices echoed off the tunnel walls.
Forms
echo · echoes · echoed · echoing
Similar words
- reverberation
- Usually a prolonged blend of reflections, not one distinct return.
- reflection
- Describes sound bouncing back, rather than the returned sound itself.