wave theory

American  

noun

1. Also called undulatory theory.  Physics. the theory that light is transmitted as a wave, similar to oscillations in magnetic and electric fields.

2. Historical Linguistics. a theory that accounts for shared features among languages or dialects by identifying these features as innovations that spread from their points of origin to the speech of contiguous areas.

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wave theory British  

noun

1. the theory proposed by Huygens that light is transmitted by waves

2. any theory that light or other radiation is transmitted as waves See electromagnetic wave

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Etymology

Origin of wave theory

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

The effect is of a droplet that appears to walk along a rippled surface in patterns that turn out to be in line with de Broglie's pilot wave theory.

From Science Daily

The question lingered for two centuries until James Clerk Maxwell’s profound and leucippitous discovery that light favors Huygens’s wave theory.

From Scientific American

Statistical mechanics tells you how the molecules of matter wiggle; the wave theory of light implied that these molecular wiggles somehow cause ripples of radiation—light waves.

From Literature

Rather more people, though, know that he had something to do with the wave theory of light.

From Literature

The amazing breadth of his contributions stand out even today, ranging from his work on the science of electricity and the wave theory of light to demography, meteorology, physical oceanography and even behavioral science.

From Scientific American