Sound
/saʊnd/noun
Vibrations that travel through air or another medium and can be heard; also, to emit such vibrations.
Did you know?In Old English, *sound* could mean a stretch of water or a sea channel, and that older sense survives in place names like the Sound of Mull.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*swem-
“to swim, move in water”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*sundą
“swimming, strait, narrow sea passage”
Old English
OE
sund
“water, sea, a strait or channel; later also a healthy or whole state”
Middle English
ME
sound
“healthy, whole; later, audible vibration and the act of measuring depth by line”
Modern English
English
sound
“audible vibration; to emit or make a noise”