coherence
[ koh-heer-uhns, -her- ]
/ koʊˈhɪər əns, -ˈhɛr- /
noun
logical interconnection; overall sense or understandability.
congruity; consistency.
Physics, Optics. (of waves) the state of being coherent.
Linguistics. the property of unity in a written text or a segment of spoken discourse that stems from the links among its underlying ideas and from the logical organization and development of its thematic content.Compare cohesion(def 4).
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Also co·her·en·cy.
Origin of coherence
First recorded in 1570–80; coher(ent) + -ence
SYNONYMS FOR coherence
OTHER WORDS FROM coherence
non·co·her·ence, nounnon·co·her·en·cy, nounWords nearby coherence
coheir, coheiress, cohen, cohenite, cohere, coherence, coherence theory, coherent, coherent control, coherent light, coherer
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for coherence
British Dictionary definitions for coherence
coherence
coherency (kəʊˈhɪərənsɪ)
/ (kəʊˈhɪərəns) /
noun
logical or natural connection or consistency
another word for cohesion (def. 1)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for coherence
coherence
[ kō-hîr′əns, -hĕr′- ]
A property holding for two or more waves or fields when each individual wave or field is in phase with every other one. Lasers, for example, emit almost perfectly coherent light; all the photons emitted by a laser have the same frequency and are in phase. Since quantum states can be described by a wave equation, coherence can hold for quantum states in general, though only among bosons. Coherence is generally possible in physical systems that may undergo superposition. Maintaining coherence of light is important in fiber optic communications. See also Bose-Einstein condensate.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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