harmonics
Americannoun
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(used with a singular verb) the science of musical sounds.
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(used with a plural verb) the partials or overtones of a fundamental tone.
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(used with a plural verb) the flageoletlike tones of a string, as a violin string, made to vibrate so as to bring out an overtone.
noun
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(functioning as singular) the science of musical sounds and their acoustic properties
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(functioning as plural) the overtones of a fundamental note, as produced by lightly touching the string of a stringed instrument at one of its node points while playing See harmonic
Etymology
Origin of harmonics
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Graphene has long been a promising candidate for HHG research, but its perfect symmetry restricts it to producing only odd harmonics -- frequencies that are odd multiples of the original light source.
From Science Daily • Nov. 2, 2025
Bryce Dessner’s recent Violin Concerto was dominated by soloist Pekka Kuusisto’s vivid bowing, creating astonishing acoustical effects with harmonics.
From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2025
“There’s something that happens when you lock in to somebody and all the harmonics ping,” says Sting backup singer Jo Lawry.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 26, 2024
"We can clearly distinguish between samples with and without SPEs, and we can now explain how the observed harmonics are responsible for a wide range of single photon emitters."
From Science Daily • Apr. 23, 2024
For example, the interval between the seventh and eighth harmonics is a major second, but so are the intervals between 8 and 9, between 9 and 10, and between 10 and 11.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
