echo

noun \ ˈe-(ˌ)kō \

Definition of echo

plural echoes also echos

1 a :the repetition of a sound caused by reflection of sound waves

b :the sound due to such reflection

2 a :a repetition or imitation of another :reflection

b :repercussion, result

c :trace, vestige

d :response

3 :one who closely imitates or repeats another's words, ideas, or acts

4 :a soft repetition of a musical phrase

5 a :the repetition of a received radio signal due especially to reflection of part of the wave from an ionized layer of the atmosphere

b (1) :the reflection of transmitted radar signals by an object

(2) :the visual indication of this reflection on a radarscope

—

echoey

play \ˈe-ˌkō-ē\ adjective

See echo defined for English-language learners

See echo defined for kids

Examples of echo in a Sentence

We shouted into the canyon and listened to the echo of our voices.
the echo of footsteps in the hall
His work contains echoes of older and greater poets.
The book's title is an echo of a line from an old folk song.
The crime is a chilling echo of the murders that shocked the city two years ago.

Recent Examples of echo from the Web

The reader who hears echoes of the Spanish romancero in the background will not be completely wrong.

— arthur green, The Atlantic, "Restoring Kabbalah to Mainstream Judaism," 25 Aug. 2017
Outside the right-wing echo chamber, there were relatively few calls on Democrats to denounce specific radical left-wing groups after the shooting.

— fred bauer, National Review, "Rebuilding the Public Square after Charlottesville," 18 Aug. 2017
Echo users can also mute their devices at any time by pushing a physical button.

— dan goodin, Ars Technica, "How a hacked Amazon Echo could secretly capture your most intimate moments," 1 Aug. 2017
Now, playing to an audience that hears echoes of Orwell in the news every day, the Hudson has what its manager says is one of the longest bars on Broadway.

— james barron, New York Times, "Newspeak on the Stage, but Real Glassware at a Theater’s Bar," 23 July 2017
Much has been written about our partisan media age, the tendency to live in our own ideological echo chambers, sampling only those opinions that affirm our own.

— danny heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, "The perfect beach read for this summer? Robert Louis Stevenson," 4 July 2017
The echo off the far end of the caverous Death Star that persisted during the opening set of Denver folk group The Lumineers’ vanished during the poli-sci masters class Professor Bono & Co. put on.

— matthew martinez, star-telegram, "Bono led U2 in a musical and poli-sci masters class at AT&T Stadium," 27 May 2017
Some Democrats charged that the sudden ouster by the president of the FBI chief had echoes of Watergate.

— ali vitali, NBC News, "Democrats Charge Comey Firing Nixonian, Demand Special Prosecutor," 9 May 2017
That feature will automatically create and add captions or titles to a video that echo to what a user is saying.

— troy wolverton, SiliconBeat, "Apple heads into Snapchat territory with Clips," 21 Mar. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'echo.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of echo

Middle English ecco, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French echo, from Latin, from Greek ēchō; akin to Latin vagire to wail, Greek ēchē sound

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

echo Synonyms

Synonyms

aper, copyist, copycat, follower, imitator, rubber stamp, wannabe (also wannabee)

Related Words

parrot; ape, emulator, impersonator, impressionist, mimic

Other Physics Terms

amplitude, centrifugal, centripetal, convection, gradient, hysteresis, kinetic, lase, quantum

echo

verb

Definition of echo

echoed; echoing play \ˈe-(ˌ)kō-iŋ, ˈe-kə-wiŋ\

intransitive verb

1 :to resound with echoes

2 :to produce an echo

transitive verb

1 a :repeat, imitate

children echoing their teacher's words

b :to restate in support or agreement

his successor echoed his opinion

c :to be reminiscent of :evoke

music that echoes an earlier time

2 :to send back (a sound) by the reflection of sound waves

See echo defined for English-language learners

Examples of echo in a Sentence

The music echoed through the church.
Laughter echoed across the lake.
Their voices echoed in the hall.
His warnings are echoed by many other experts in the field.
“It's in Rome.” “In Rome?” she echoed.
Others have echoed her criticisms.
The book's title echoes a line from an old folk song.
The crime echoes last year's shocking murders.

Recent Examples of echo from the Web

When the playoff field is revealed on Dec. 3, results of the first few weeks of the season could still be echoing through the selections.

— ralph d. russo, The Seattle Times, "College football picks: ‘Bama-FSU can make long-term impact," 30 Aug. 2017
The chants echoing the same anti-Semitic bile heard across Europe in the 1930s.

— joe biden, The Atlantic, "'We Are Living Through a Battle for the Soul of This Nation'," 27 Aug. 2017
Barbara Allen, a substance abuse education advocate who has also lost three family members to substance abuse, echoed Elder’s point, and specifically noted the need for more sober housing for women in the region.

— kate magill, Howard County Times, "Howard community members brainstorm opioid epidemic strategies at workshop," 25 Aug. 2017
Baldwin’s words echoed last weekend, in the nightmarish bigotry, and in those who came to denounce it.

— joshua adams, Longreads, "What Thomas Jefferson Taught Me About Charlottesville and America," 17 Aug. 2017
The new marker echoes the organization's logo, a gold lighthouse with two blue stars.

— caroline picard, Good Housekeeping, "Disney World Unveils Sculpture to Honor 2-Year-Old Killed by Alligator," 8 Aug. 2017
Their concerns were echoed by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, which also warned the Senate about the economic consequences of such a bill.

— isobel thompson, The Hive, "The G.O.P.’s Trumpcare Charade Enters the Death Spiral," 27 July 2017
The illness echoes the flu in its symptoms, which can include cough, severe fatigue, fever, headaches and rashes.

— pauline bartolone, Kaiser Health News, "California Valley Fever Cases Highest On Record," 24 July 2017
Many of the rock climbers who help overwhelmed fire departments free tens of thousands from lifts begin to give up on day four despite the heart-wrenching banging that continues to echo through some elevator shafts.

— The Economist, "The disaster that could follow from a flash in the sky," 13 July 2017

First Known Use of echo

1596

echo Synonyms

Synonyms

reverberate, reecho, resonate, resound, sound

Related Words

ring, roll

Near Antonyms

damp, dampen, deaden, dull, quiet

Echo

noun \ ˈe-(ˌ)kō \

Definition of Echo

:a nymph in Greek mythology who pines away for love of Narcissus until nothing is left of her but her voice

Recent Examples of echo from the Web

The reader who hears echoes of the Spanish romancero in the background will not be completely wrong.

— arthur green, The Atlantic, "Restoring Kabbalah to Mainstream Judaism," 25 Aug. 2017
Outside the right-wing echo chamber, there were relatively few calls on Democrats to denounce specific radical left-wing groups after the shooting.

— fred bauer, National Review, "Rebuilding the Public Square after Charlottesville," 18 Aug. 2017
Echo users can also mute their devices at any time by pushing a physical button.

— dan goodin, Ars Technica, "How a hacked Amazon Echo could secretly capture your most intimate moments," 1 Aug. 2017
Now, playing to an audience that hears echoes of Orwell in the news every day, the Hudson has what its manager says is one of the longest bars on Broadway.

— james barron, New York Times, "Newspeak on the Stage, but Real Glassware at a Theater’s Bar," 23 July 2017
Much has been written about our partisan media age, the tendency to live in our own ideological echo chambers, sampling only those opinions that affirm our own.

— danny heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, "The perfect beach read for this summer? Robert Louis Stevenson," 4 July 2017
The echo off the far end of the caverous Death Star that persisted during the opening set of Denver folk group The Lumineers’ vanished during the poli-sci masters class Professor Bono & Co. put on.

— matthew martinez, star-telegram, "Bono led U2 in a musical and poli-sci masters class at AT&T Stadium," 27 May 2017
Some Democrats charged that the sudden ouster by the president of the FBI chief had echoes of Watergate.

— ali vitali, NBC News, "Democrats Charge Comey Firing Nixonian, Demand Special Prosecutor," 9 May 2017
That feature will automatically create and add captions or titles to a video that echo to what a user is saying.

— troy wolverton, SiliconBeat, "Apple heads into Snapchat territory with Clips," 21 Mar. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'Echo.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of echo

Greek Ēchō

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1595

See Words from the same year

Other Mythology and Folklore Terms

elysian, fay, muse, nimbus, phoenix

Echo

Definition of Echo

—a communications code word for the letter e

First Known Use of echo

1952

Other Alphabet Terms

cuneiform, linear, minuscule, pictograph, rune, symbology, wedge

ECHO Defined for English Language Learners

echo

noun

Definition of echo for English Language Learners

: a sound that is a copy of another sound and that is produced when sound waves bounce off a surface (such as a wall)
: something (such as a feature or quality) that repeats or resembles something else
: something that is similar to something that happened or existed before

echo

verb

Definition of echo for English Language Learners

: to be filled with sounds and especially with echoes
: to fill a space, area, etc., with sounds and especially with echoes
: to repeat (what someone else has said or written)

ECHO Defined for Kids

echo

noun \ ˈe-kō \

Definition of echo for Students

plural echoes

:the repetition of a sound caused by the reflection of sound waves

echo

verb

Definition of echo for Students

echoed; echoing

1 :to send back or repeat a sound

2 :to repeat another's words

Medical Dictionary

echo

noun \ ˈek-(ˌ)ō \

medical Definition of echo

plural echoes also echos

1 :the repetition of a sound that is caused by reflection of sound waves

2 :the sound that is due to reflection of sound waves

—

echo

verb echoed; echoing play \ˈek-(ˌ)ō-iŋ, ˈek-ə-wiŋ\

echo

abbreviation

medical Definition of echo

echocardiogram; echocardiography

Learn More about echo

See words that rhyme with echo Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for echo Spanish Central: Translation of echo Nglish: Translation of echo for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of echo for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about echo

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echo

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echoey

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Origin and Etymology of echo

echo Synonyms

Synonyms

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Other Physics Terms

echo

Definition of echo

Examples of echo in a Sentence

Recent Examples of echo from the Web

First Known Use of echo

echo Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

Echo

Definition of Echo

Recent Examples of echo from the Web

Origin and Etymology of echo

Other Mythology and Folklore Terms

Echo

Definition of Echo

First Known Use of echo

Other Alphabet Terms

ECHO Defined for English Language Learners

echo

Definition of echo for English Language Learners

echo

Definition of echo for English Language Learners

ECHO Defined for Kids

echo

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echo

Definition of echo for Students

Medical Dictionary

echo

medical Definition of echo

echo

echo

medical Definition of echo

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