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Glite Dictionary
📻 Radio detector 🤝 A unifier
coherer

coherer

9.9
A device that detects radio signals by changing how electricity flows through it
  • noun
  • /koʊˈhɪrər/
  • Archaic
translation icon : coherente
  • The early wireless telegraph used a coherer to detect radio waves and improve communication.

Examples

  • Inventors of the past relied on a coherer for transmitting messages without wires.

  • I have to return to the cup coherer because it's much more stable.

  • During demonstrations, the students learned how a coherer changes its resistance in response to radio signals.

How Precise

CRO
  • Specialized
1 8.4
oscillograph
  • Specialized
9.9
coherer
  • Archaic
9.9

Surface Forms

coherer singular
coherers plural

Morphology

coherer = cohere (semi-transparent) = cohere + er

Formed from the verb 'cohere' with the instrument/agent suffix '-er'; the specialised technical device sense (radio detector) is not obvious to an average learner.

Etymology

Coherer comes from the Latin parts co- ('together') and haerēre ('to stick'), and the early radio detector was named because tiny metal pieces inside would 'stick' together when a signal passed. So, the name helps you remember that the device worked by making parts 'cohere' to show a signal.