harmonic
pertaining to harmony, as distinguished from melody and rhythm.
marked by harmony; in harmony; concordant; consonant.
Physics. of, relating to, or noting a series of oscillations in which each oscillation has a frequency that is an integral multiple of the same basic frequency.
Mathematics.
(of a set of values) related in a manner analogous to the frequencies of tones that are consonant.
capable of being represented by sine and cosine functions.
(of a function) satisfying the Laplace equation.
Music. overtone (def. 1).
Physics. a single oscillation whose frequency is an integral multiple of the fundamental frequency.
Origin of harmonic
1Other words from harmonic
- har·mon·i·cal·ly, adverb
- har·mon·i·cal·ness, noun
- non·har·mon·ic, adjective
- un·har·mon·ic, adjective
- un·har·mon·i·cal·ly, adverb
Words Nearby harmonic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use harmonic in a sentence
The team used something called a harmonic constant-Q transform to model the structure in pitched sound by harmonic, frequency, and time.
Thanks to its extended low-frequency response, it reproduced a rich and detailed picture of low harmonic information from both instruments.
Neat Microphones King Bee II review: A natural fit | Julian Vittorio | January 29, 2022 | Popular-SciencePage disrupts the pattern in the second bar, moving up to the ninth, and fleshes out the figure with more harmonic support.
“We were about exploration, adventure—harmonic and rhythmic and melodic and more,” Weir says.
Bob Weir on Drugged-Out Deadheads and Living in Jerry Garcia’s Shadow | Emily Shire | April 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTo step inside Madison Square Garden was to grab hold of a lifeline to an alternate world of harmonic order and balance.
‘When the Garden Was Eden’: Why New York City Needs the Knicks Now More Than Ever | Robert Silverman | April 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The music is juvenile stuff—tonic-dominant, without harmonic richness or surprise.
Otherwise the pipes will speak a harmonic instead of the sound intended—as, indeed, frequently happens.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building | George Laing Millerharmonic Flutes, of double length open pipes, are now utilized by almost all organ builders.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building | George Laing MillerThe singing of the choir is pretty exact and melodious; but it is too weak—needs more harmonic energy and general strength.
Our Churches and Chapels | AtticusThe melody of the dance music which all along had seeped to them in harmonic murmur from the distant ballroom was now hushed.
The Tigress | Anne WarnerMusic no less surely does the same through the agency of rhythm, melody, and harmonic texture.
Spirit and Music | H. Ernest Hunt
British Dictionary definitions for harmonic
/ (hɑːˈmɒnɪk) /
of, involving, producing, or characterized by harmony; harmonious
music of, relating to, or belonging to harmony
maths
capable of expression in the form of sine and cosine functions
of or relating to numbers whose reciprocals form an arithmetic progression
physics of or concerned with an oscillation that has a frequency that is an integral multiple of a fundamental frequency
physics of or concerned with harmonics
physics music a component of a periodic quantity, such as a musical tone, with a frequency that is an integral multiple of the fundamental frequency. The first harmonic is the fundamental, the second harmonic (twice the fundamental frequency) is the first overtone, the third harmonic (three times the fundamental frequency) is the second overtone, etc
music (not in technical use) overtone: in this case, the first overtone is the first harmonic, etc
Origin of harmonic
1- See also harmonics
Derived forms of harmonic
- harmonically, adverb
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 harmonic
[ här-mŏn′ĭk ]
Periodic motion whose frequency is a whole-number multiple of some fundamental frequency. The motion of objects or substances that vibrate or oscillate in a regular fashion, such as the strings of musical instruments, can be analyzed as a combination of a fundamental frequency and higher harmonics.♦ Harmonics above the first harmonic (the fundamental frequency) in sound waves are called overtones. The first overtone is the second harmonic, the second overtone is the third harmonic, and so on.
Related to or having the properties of such periodic motion.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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