from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Resonance \Res"o*nance\ (r?z"?-nans), n. [Cf. F. r['e]sonance,
L. resonantia an echo.]
1. The act of resounding; the quality or state of being
resonant.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Acoustics) A prolongation or increase of any sound,
either by reflection, as in a cavern or apartment the
walls of which are not distant enough to return a distinct
echo, or by the production of vibrations in other bodies,
as a sounding-board, or the bodies of musical instruments.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Physics) A phenomenon in which a vibration or other
cyclic process (such as tide cycles) of large amplitude is
produced by smaller impulses, when the frequency of the
external impulses is close to that of the natural cycling
frequency of the process in that system.
Note: The shattering of a glass object when impinged upon by
sound of a certain frequency is one example of this
phenomenon; another is the very large tides in certain
basins such as that of the Bay of Fundy, which has a
natural cycling frequency close to that of the tidal
cycle.
[PJC]
4. (Electronics) An electric phenomenon corresponding to that
of acoustic resonance, due to the existance of certain
relations of the capacity, inductance, resistance, and
frequency of an alternating circuit; the tuning of a radio
transmitter or receiver to send or detect waves of
specific frequencies depends on this phenomenon.
[Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
{Pulmonary resonance} (Med.), the sound heard on percussing
over the lungs.
{Vocal resonance} (Med.), the sound transmitted to the ear
when auscultation is made while the patient is speaking.
[1913 Webster]