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

Example Sentences

Some performers from the two casts I caught managed to find moments of theatrical coherence within the onrushing action.

From The Wall Street Journal

This would mean "joint supervision, harmonised insolvency and greater tax coherence, which go far beyond what is currently proposed", she told AFP.

From Barron's

Wright’s English subjects are, like his contemporary Edward Gibbon’s Romans, backlit by a skepticism whose coherence derives from the Enlightenment confidence in objective reason.

From The Wall Street Journal

As if the ugliness of the 120 minutes wasn't enough - the grisly battle, the hair-on-fire panic, the abysmal lack of anything resembling coherence or even competence - there was the disgrace of the post-match.

From BBC

"It's a confused mix of ambition and narcissism, unleavened by any effort at intellectual coherence," said Bruce Jones, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

From Barron's

Related Words

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