Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

richter scale

/ˈɹɪkt.ɚ skeɪl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.21 in modern English

Syllables: richter s-cale
IPA: /ˈɹɪkt.ɚ skeɪl/

19

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A logarithmic scale used to express the energy released by an earthquake, each increase of 1 representing a 31-fold increase in energy, and a 10-fold increase in the measured wave amplitude.

noun

A value on the Richter scale.

Example Sentences

"“The Richter scale is an old scale developed for California. It is only good for smaller quakes, and is not very good at differentiating the sizes of bigger shocks,” said McGuire."
"The students also faced and experienced earthquakes at various Richter scales."

Etymology

Named after American seismologist Charles Richter (1900–1985), whose name derives from German Richter (“judge”).

Origin

Source language: German

Word Breakdown

Root: Richter

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈɹɪkt.ɚ skeɪl/

Inflected Forms

the Richter scale (canonical) Richter scales (plural)

Phrases

Fujita scale Torino scale moment magnitude scale

Frequently Paired Words

Fujita scale Torino scale moment magnitude scale

Questions

How do you pronounce richter scale?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɹɪkt.ɚ skeɪl/.
What does richter scale mean?: A logarithmic scale used to express the energy released by an earthquake, each increase of 1 representing a 31-fold increase in energy, and a 10-fold increase in the measured wave amplitude.
Where does richter scale come from?: It is traced to German.

How to pronounce richter scale

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “richter scale”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɹɪkt.ɚ skeɪl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “richter scale”.
Repeat and practice — Say “richter scale” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.