Meanings
- obsoleteuncountableacoustics;
A-men, Ar-men, Am-men, and Ah-men, and every other prefix and accentuation of men, that the love of variety could suggest, or the art of echometry command, were poured forth with a vigor and energy, that common throats would have "swelled to bursting night."
1845 January, "an Observer", “Methodistic Enthusiasm”, in Alexander Campbell, Charles Louis Loos, editor, The Millennial Harbinger, volume 2, number 1, page 12- obsoleteuncountableThe art of constructing vaults to produce echoes.
Blanc, in his Echometry, at the end of his first book of the sphere, teaches the method of making an artificial Echo.
1788, John Carter, The Builder's Magazine, page 2063 more examples
although construction of the Banqueting House began a few months before Jones could have had the benefit of Biancani's echometry, Jones was immersed in the Bitruvian tradition and would have been aware of the importance given to resonance and echo in the De Architectura.
1984, Joseph Loewenstein, Yale Studies in English - Volume 192, page 60But the resulting theoretical formalization, echometry, was foreshadowed by religious and doctrinal considerations that authorized the consideration of acoustics at the level of dogma, as we can see in the sermons of Bernard of Clairvaux, for instance:
2019, Francois J. Bonnet, The Order of Sounds: A Sonorous Archipelago, page 29An increasing interest in the propagation of sound was collected by the Jesuit Giuseppe Biancani (1566–1624), who published in 1620 the essay Sphaera Mundi [7], whose third paragraph is titled Echometria, id est Geometrica tractatio de Echo (Echometry, i.e., the Geometric Treatise of Echo).
2020, Francesco Aletta, Jian Kang, Historical Acoustics, page 160 - obsoleteuncountableA hypothetical science of echos.
In the Harmonie universelle, Marin Mersenne refers to the fable of Pan and Echo in order to introduce the desideratum of a new science of "echometry” (Mersenne 1636: 50–53).
2022, Dana Jalobeanu, Charles T. Wolfe, Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences, page 6562 more examples
The science of echometry is a capricious science. The millionaire was disgusted, when his rich ruttish voice failed to produce a response; he was more disgusted on being told that to no one but the little son of his own gamekeeper would the echo reply at all.
1917 November, Bernard Capes, “La Morgue Littéraire”, in William Makepeace Thackeray, editor, The Cornhill Magazine, volume 43, number 257, page 464He wrote on the reflective properties of the various conic sections and even fancied a projected discipline of "Echometry," which might cope with such intriguing problems as (1) echoes that could respond up to twe3nty times, with the final repetition louder than the initial ones; (2) protable echo chambers, like portable mirrors; (3) echoes that would answer in Spanish what was cried out in French; (4) echoes that would respond to a tone at the octave or fifth; (5) echoes that would store sound and reflect only at certain times of day or night; and so forth.
2024, John Hollander, The Figure of Echo: A Mode of Allusion in Milton and After, page 3
- uncountableThe scientific measurement of sounds or echoes.
It treats of Arithmetic with separate pagination, and is one of the earliest works on commercial arithmetic published in Scotland; the terrestrial glove; the elements of astronomy (p. 54); the principles of geography (p. 71); and echometry or science of measuring sound (p. 107) .
1915, Records of the Glasgow Bibliographical Society - Volumes 3-5, page 52- uncountableThe use of reflected sound waves to measure the shape or movement of objects.
Lovetskaya (1958) established by echometry that bigeye kilka move away from light with a speed of 7 m/min.
1975, I. V. Nikonorov, Interaction of Fishing Gear with Fish Aggregations, page 713 more examples
In determining dynamic level of liquids in bore-holes by existing methods and apparatus, eg by gas volumes in piping, echometry etc, much time is required together with elaborate apparatus, often yielding unsatisfactory results without possibility of studying in situ all special features in connection with liquid level over long periods.
1951, Industrial Diamond Abstracts - Volume 8, page 98Simulation models have been developed, using the data collected on-site during exploratory drilling in the salt deposit, to establish a development project of the cavity shapes obtained successively during solution mining and checked by echometry.
2012, Alain Mascle, Hydrocarbon and Petroleum Geology of France"Fine" fault localization and repair: the fault localization procedure in a cable can require techniques relying on echometry (use of reflected waves) or simple visual inspection for overhead lines.
2013, Nouredine Hadjsaïd, Jean-Claude Sabonnadière, Smart Grids - uncountablemedicineThe use of ultrasound echos to make biometric measurements (as opposed to making images, which is called medical ultrasound).
The acoustics system design for echometry is significantly different from that of tissue-structure mapping in that diffuse backscatter is essential.
1992, Robert John Weber, David N. Perkins, Inventive Minds: Creativity in Technology, page 1393 more examples
Manufacturers of IOLs are of course aware of this fact and determine the A- or ACD constants of their lenses in such a way that optimum results are achieved with contact echometry.
2004, H. John Shammas, Intraocular Lens Power Calculations, page 148In order to apply echometry to the diagnosis and follow-up of congenital glaucoma, we carried out the following study with normal children with the aim of finding out the values of axial lengths in developing normal eyes and in congenital glaucomas.
2008, Roberto Sampaolesi, Jorge Zarate, Juan Roberto Sampaolesi, The Glaucomas: Volume I - Pediatric Glaucomas, page 42Considered as the father of medical ultrasound, John Wilde was the first one to describe echometry, which enabled him to distinguish healthy cells from cancerous ones.
2017, Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu, Design of Nanostructures for Theranostics Applications, page 499
Origin
From echo + -metry, compare French échométrie.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
echometry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/echometry
“echometry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/echometry. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “echometry,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/echometry.
Source: echometry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.