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sone

sone

9.9
A measure of how loud a sound seems to a person for comparing noises from machines like fans
  • noun
  • /soʊn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : sone
  • At a distance of ten feet, the noise level was measured at three sone.

Examples

  • A soft rustling in the leaves emitted a sound that was barely noticeable, around half a sone.

  • The sound of the whisper was about one sone quieter than the conversation around us.

  • We are less than a femto-sone in God's creation!

    Academic text (2009)
  • A femto-sone?

    Academic text (2009)

Synonyms

phon
vssone
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A unit that measures how loud a sound seems to people

is a precisely defined loudness unit tied to a 1000 hertz tone reference
phono
vssone
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A unit that measures how loud a sound seems or an informal word for a record player

is the precise loudness unit defined by a 1000 hertz 40 dB reference

Surface Forms

sone singular
sones plural

Etymology

The word sone comes from the Latin root sonus, which means 'sound', and you can see the same root in sonic. So a sone is a unit that measures how loud a sound seems to a person.