sonogram
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of sonogram
Explanation
In medicine, a sonogram uses sound waves to display an image of some internal part of a person's body. A pregnant woman might have a sonogram to get a picture of her fetus. A sonogram most commonly produces a two-dimensional black and white image — for example, of a fetus inside its mother's uterus. Doctors use sonograms to see organs, tendons, muscles, and joints as well. A sonogram works by bouncing high frequency sounds against tissue and displaying the reflected or echoed image. The word itself combines the Latin sonus, or "sound," and the word-forming suffix -gram.
Vocabulary lists containing sonogram
Common Senses: Son ("Sound")
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Woman Hollering Creek
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Piecing Me Together
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
She only learned that her nearly 20-year-old breast implants were damaged after having them examined with a sonogram.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026
When the mother of two showed up bleeding at Houston Methodist Sugar Land in June 2023, at 11 weeks pregnant, her sonogram suggested an “ongoing miscarriage” was “likely,” her doctor noted.
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2025
Mummy even shared a cartoon sonogram on the morning show, a sight seen infrequently in preschool programming.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2025
I’ve known friends to forgo different parts of the medical process throughout pregnancies, but the pregnancy-announcing sonogram is de rigueur.
From New York Times ● Aug. 2, 2023
I took the sonogram to the kitchen table and tried to determine which part of the amorphous blob was my future niece or nephew.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
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.
