Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Resembling or characteristic of an echo: Having the quality of repeating or reflecting sound, similar to an echo.
   • (Of words) Imitative of natural sounds: Describing words that are formed to imitate the sound associated with the thing or action they refer to; onomatopoeic.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The canyon had a distinctly echoic quality, making every shout return.
  • "Buzz" and "hiss" are echoic words because they sound like the noises they describe.

Advanced Usage

• Linguistics: In linguistic studies, 'echoic' is used to classify words that are phonetically imitative of their referents.
  • The study focused on the echoic origins of many verbs for animal sounds.
• Acoustics: Can describe environments or materials that produce echo-like effects.
  • The empty hall was too echoic for clear recording.

Variants and Related Words

• Echo (n/v): The reflection of sound; to repeat a sound.
  • We heard an echo. His words echoed in the room.
• Onomatopoeic (adj): (Often synonymous in the linguistic sense) Forming words by imitation of sound.
  • "Sizzle" is an onomatopoeic word.

Synonyms

• Imitative: Following a model or pattern, especially of sound.
• Onomatopoeic: (Specifically for words) Formed by imitation of a sound.
• Resonant: Deep, clear, and continuing to sound or ring.

Antonyms

• Non-imitative: Not formed by imitation.
• Arbitrary: (In linguistics, regarding the sign) Based on random choice or convention, not on a natural relationship.

Related Phrases/Idioms

• Echoic memory: (Cognitive psychology) A very brief sensory memory for auditory stimuli.
  • The concept of echoic memory explains how we briefly retain sounds after hearing them.

Adjective

1. like or characteristic of an echo
2. (of words) formed in imitation of a natural sound
   • onomatopoeic words are imitative of noises
   • it was independently developed in more than one place as an onomatopoetic term- Harry Hoijer