coherence

American  

[koh-heer-uhns, -her-] / koʊˈhɪər əns, -ˈhɛr- /

Also coherency

noun

1. the act or state of cohering; cohesion.

2. logical interconnection; overall sense or understandability.

3. congruity; consistency.

   Synonyms:

   rationality, agreement, harmony, correspondence

4. Physics, Optics. (of waves) the state of being coherent.

5. 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.

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coherence British  

/ kəʊˈhɪərənsɪ, kəʊˈhɪərəns /

noun

1. logical or natural connection or consistency

2. another word for cohesion

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coherence Scientific  

/ kō-hîr′əns,-hĕr′- /

1. 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.

2. See also Bose-Einstein condensate

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Other Word Forms

• noncoherence
  noun
• noncoherency
  noun

Etymology

Origin of coherence

First recorded in 1570–80; coher(ent) + -ence

Explanation

When something has coherence, all of its parts fit together well. An argument with coherence is logical and complete — with plenty of supporting facts. Coherence comes from a Latin word meaning “to stick together." When you say policies, arguments and strategies are coherent, you’re praising them for making sense. Scientists are always looking for coherence in data to support their hypotheses. And coaches are always looking for coherence in their teams, so they don't fall apart.

Example Sentences

“We see revolutionary changes in geopolitics, technology, AI, social coherence, and we see political systems that are struggling to keep up and manage these changes,” said Norbert Röttgen, a veteran German conservative lawmaker.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026

By examining how the strength of electronic order at one location relates to that at another, the researchers showed how coherence breaks down across the transition while local amplitude remains present.

From Science Daily • Apr. 28, 2026

Mr. Armitage captures this with expert subtlety, allowing the narrative to unfurl without imposing false coherence upon it.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

And in Iran's political model, signalling is how coherence is maintained.

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026

Certainly the mechanics here are sound, and at first glance, so is the coherence.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• consistency
• continuity
• integrity
• rationality
• solidarity
• unity