harmonic series

noun

: a series of the form {latex}1 + \frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{3} + \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{5} + \frac{1}{6} + \dots{/latex}

Examples of harmonic series in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The ending of the first movement makes clear Britten’s awareness of this aesthetic dichotomy, with a cello glissando ascent through the harmonic series, an acoustic phenomenon literally at the core of western ideas of musical consonance and harmony. —San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Apr. 2022

This kind of series, based on successive reciprocal numbers, is known as a harmonic series. —Quanta Magazine, 2 Dec. 2016

Also called the Euler-Mascheroni constant, it is defined as the limiting difference between the natural logarithm the harmonic series. —Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, 5 Oct. 2016

At one point, the music seems to orbit around the natural harmonic series, and a drone appears at another. —Peter Dobrin, Philly.com, 26 Mar. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined above