🔊 Like an echo 🐦 Imitating sounds

echoic

1 8.6

A word that copies a natural sound, for example buzz or hiss

adjective
/ˈɛkoʊɪk/

Specialized

: ecoico

The word 'buzz' is an echoic term, capturing the sound made by bees.

Examples

Many comic books use echoic words like 'bang' and 'pop' to imitate sounds visually.
The child's laughter had an echoic quality, mimicking the joyful sounds of nature around them.
Echoic footsteps.

Fiction book (1998)

Synonyms

onomatopoeic

vsechoic

Specialized

1 7.4

A word that sounds like the noise something makes, for example bang or buzz

is the same but stresses formation by resembling the natural sound

imitative

vsechoic

Specialized

1 5.5

Words that copy natural sounds like bang or buzz

is similar but also includes words that merely resemble those sounds

onomatopoetic

vsechoic

Specialized

1 8.2

Words that copy sounds like 'meow' or 'buzz'

is narrower meaning specifically formed by or resembling natural sounds

onomatopoeical

vsechoic

Specialized

1 9.5

A word that copies the sound something makes, like 'buzz' or 'bang'

is broader and also covers words that only resemble the sound

Antonyms

nonechoic

Specialized

9.9

Not imitating natural sounds in speech or writing

How Imitative

onomatopoeic

Specialized

1 7.4

echoic

Specialized

1 8.6

imitative

Specialized

1 5.5

Surface Forms

echoic positive

Morphology

echoic = echo (semi-transparent) = echo + ic

The adjective is formed from 'echo' + '-ic', but the linguistic sense 'onomatopoeic' is somewhat specialized and may not be fully recoverable by a B1 learner from 'echo' alone.

Etymology

Echoic comes from the root echo, which means 'sound'. A helpful way to remember it is that echoic words 'copy' real noises, like 'buzz' or 'clang', so the word means 'sounds like the thing it names'.