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
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The total of the harmonic series grows incredibly slowly.
—
Jack Murtagh, Scientific American, 6 July 2025
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
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
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
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Jack Murtagh, Scientific American, 6 July 2025
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
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
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
Cite this Entry
“Harmonic series.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/harmonic%20series. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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