subsonic

Q: Where does subsonic come from?

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *upó Proto-Italic *supo Latin sub Latin sub-der. English sub- Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- Proto-Indo-European *swónh₂os Latin sonus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English sonic English subsonic From sub- + sonic.

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.52 in modern English

Syllables: sub-son-ic
IPA

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

having a frequency too low to be audible

adj

very quiet, almost inaudible

Literary

adj

(aviation) less than the speed of sound (in the same medium, and at the same temperature and pressure)

adj

with a Mach number such that 0.3 < Ma < 0.8 (approximately - the exact limits vary between sources)

noun

an aircraft whose maximum speed is less than the speed of sound

Example Sentences

"The noise of the ship was all around her. The faint subsonic rumble of the reactor and drive. (Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey)"
"But British Airways Flight 112 made the trek in under five hours, setting a new record for the fastest subsonic commercial flight across the Atlantic Ocean."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *upó Proto-Italic *supo Latin sub Latin sub-der. English sub- Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- Proto-Indo-European *swónh₂os Latin sonus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English sonic English subsonic From sub- + sonic.

Usage

Literary

Inflected Forms

subsonics (plural)

Derived Forms

subsonically

Frequently Paired Words

hypersonic plasmasonic supersonic transonic

Rhymes With

electronic chronic iconic sonic ironic tonic demonic harmonic ionic platonic supersonic masonic