harmonic

Noun · Adjective
US[hahr-mon-ik]/hɑrˈmɑnɪk/3 syllables
Synonyms: sympatheticconsonantharmonicalharmonizedharmonised

Open English WordNet

Adjective (5)

  1. of or relating to harmony as distinct from melody and rhythm“subtleties of harmonic change and tonality — Ralph Hill”Opposite nonharmonicRelating to harmony
  2. of or relating to harmonics
  3. of or relating to the branch of acoustics that studies the composition of musical sounds“the sound of the resonating cavity cannot be the only determinant of the harmonic response”Relating to harmonics
  4. relating to vibrations that occur as a result of vibrations in a nearby body“sympathetic vibration”Synonyms: sympatheticOpposite inharmoniousSimilar harmonious
  5. involving or characterized by harmonySynonyms: consonantharmonicalharmonizedharmonisedOpposite inharmoniousSimilar harmonious

Noun (2)harmonics

  1. a tone that is a component of a complex soundType of tone, pure toneKinds overtone, fundamental
  2. any of a series of musical tones whose frequencies are integral multiples of the frequency of a fundamentalType of timbre, timber

Related words harmony noun, concordance noun

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Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Har·mon′ic (här-mŏn′ĭk), Har·mon′ic·al (-ĭ-kal), adjective

Origin: L. harmonicus, Gr. ἁρμονικός; cf. F. harmonique. See Harmony.

1. Concordant; musical; consonant; as, harmonic sounds.

Harmonic twang! of leather, horn, and brass.— Alexander Pope

2. Music Relating to harmony, — as melodic relates to melody; harmonious; esp., relating to the accessory sounds or overtones which accompany the predominant and apparent single tone of any string or sonorous body.

3. Mathematics Having relations or properties bearing some resemblance to those of musical consonances; — said of certain numbers, ratios, proportions, points, lines, motions, and the like.

Harmonic interval Music, the distance between two notes of a chord, or two consonant notes. — Harmonical mean Arith. & Alg., certain relations of numbers and quantities, which bear an analogy to musical consonances. — Harmonic motion, the motion of the point A, of the foot of the perpendicular PA, when P moves uniformly in the circumference of a circle, and PA is drawn perpendicularly upon a fixed diameter of the circle. This is simple harmonic motion. The combinations, in any way, of two or more simple harmonic motions, make other kinds of harmonic motion. The motion of the pendulum bob of a clock is approximately simple harmonic motion. — Harmonic proportion. See under Proportion. — Harmonic series or Harmonic progression. See under Progression. — Spherical harmonic analysis, a mathematical method, sometimes referred to as that of Laplace's Coefficients, which has for its object the expression of an arbitrary, periodic function of two independent variables, in the proper form for a large class of physical problems, involving arbitrary data, over a spherical surface, and the deduction of solutions for every point of space. The functions employed in this method are called spherical harmonic functions. Sir Wm.} {Thomson — Harmonic suture Anatomy, an articulation by simple apposition of comparatively smooth surfaces or edges, as between the two superior maxillary bones in man; — called also harmonia, and harmony. — Harmonic triad Music, the chord of a note with its third and fifth; the common chord.

Har·mon′ic (här-mŏn′ĭk), noun

Music A musical note produced by a number of vibrations which is a multiple of the number producing some other; an overtone. See Harmonics.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

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