diacoustic

D2I1A1C3O1U1S1T1I1C3

adjective

Relating to diacoustics.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

adjectivediacoustic (not comparable)
  1. not comparableRelating to diacoustics.
    3 more examples

    The archbishop of Armagh (in Nᵒ 156, Philos. Trans.) compares hearing with vision; and as the latter is divided into direct, reflected, and refracted vision, so in like manner he divides the former into three parts, and considers not only direct and reflected sounds, which have been long known, but also refracted ones: for, as he observed that former ages had, in a great measure perfected the doctrine of vision by optic, catoptric, and dioptric inventions, so likewise he did not doubt, but that the doctrine of sounds, both with respect to the object, and the medium or organ, might be broutht to perfection by acoustic, catacoustic and diacoustic, or ( as he denominates them both ways ) by phonic, cataphonic, and diaphonic instruments.

    1809, Charles Hutton, Richard Pearson, The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, page 471

    The only hypothesis left therefore is that of diacoustic refraction; by which the sound-beam from one origin is bent and lifted over the observer, while from an opposite origin the refraction is in a reversed direction; and such a quality in the moving air is referable to no other observed condition but that of its motion, that is to the influence of the wind.

    1880, William Bower Taylor, A Memoir of Joseph Henry: A Sketch of His Scientific Work, page 353

    These considerations prepare us for the inference that Montlhe/ry, on the occasion referred to, must have been surrounded by a highly-diacoustic atmosphere; while the shortness of the echoes at Villejuif shows that the atmosphere surrounding that station must have been, in a high degree, acoustically opaque.

    1900, John Tyndall, Library of Universal Literature: Sound, page 467

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  2. Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
  3. Proto-Indo-European*dwís
  4. Ancient Greekδιά (diá)
  5. Ancient Greekδῐᾰ- (dĭă-)
  6. Englishdia-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱ-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ṓws
  10. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ḱh₂owsyéti
  11. Proto-Hellenic*akóuhō
  12. Ancient Greekἀκούω (akoúō)
  13. Ancient Greekᾰ̓κουστῐκός (ăkoustĭkós)
  14. Medieval Latinacousticus
  15. Englishacoustic
  16. Englishdiacoustic

From dia- + acoustic.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

diacoustic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diacoustic

MLA

“diacoustic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diacoustic. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “diacoustic,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diacoustic.

Source: diacoustic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.