otoacoustics

O1T1O1A1C3O1U1S1T1I1C3S1

noun

The science studying otoacoustic sounds.

OriginEnglish acoustics ← Medieval Latin acousticus ← Ancient Greek ᾰ̓κουστῐκός (ăkoustĭkós) →
Scrabble 16
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Meanings

nounotoacoustics (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe science studying otoacoustic sounds.
  2. uncountableOtoacoustic sounds and related phenomena, collectively.

    These faint sounds of otoacoustics, produced by the expansion and contractions of hair cells within the outer cochlea, could not be measured until the development of sufficiently sensitive low noise microphones in the late 1970s, so the […]

    2010, David Toop, Sinister Resonance: The Mediumship of the Listener

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ṓws
  3. Ancient Greekοὖς (oûs)
  4. Ancient Greekὠτ- (ōt-)
  5. Englishot-
  6. Englishoto-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱ-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ṓws
  9. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ḱh₂owsyéti
  10. Proto-Hellenic*akóuhō
  11. Ancient Greekἀκούω (akoúō)
  12. Ancient Greekᾰ̓κουστῐκός (ăkoustĭkós)
  13. Medieval Latinacousticus
  14. Englishacoustic
  15. Englishacoustics
  16. Englishotoacoustics

From oto- + acoustics.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

otoacoustics. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/otoacoustics

MLA

“otoacoustics.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/otoacoustics. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “otoacoustics,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/otoacoustics.

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