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Glite Dictionary
🐦 Imitating sounds 🔊 Like an echo
echoic

echoic

8.6
A word that copies a natural sound, for example buzz or hiss
  • adjective
  • /ˈɛkoʊɪk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : 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
onomatopoeical
vsechoic
  • Specialized
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
imitative
vsechoic
  • Specialized
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
8.2

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

is narrower meaning specifically formed by or resembling natural sounds

Antonyms

nonechoic
  • Specialized
9.9

Not imitating natural sounds in speech or writing

How Imitative

onomatopoeic
  • Specialized
1 7.4
echoic
  • Specialized
8.6
imitative
  • Specialized
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'.