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Glite Dictionary
📉 Fractional frequency 📉 Lower frequency
subharmonic

subharmonic

1 8.4
A sound or vibration that repeats at a simple fraction of the main tone
  • noun
  • /ˌsʌbˈhɑːrmɒnɪk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : subarmónico
  • In the analysis of the audio signal, we identified a subharmonic that was one-third the fundamental frequency.

And then you have these subharmonics that are below it.

Examples

  • And then you have these subharmonics that are below it.

    Rick Beato

  • And let's also assume that we introduce no subharmonics from our our system.

  • The sound system produced a clear subharmonic at half the frequency of the main speaker.

  • To understand the music better, she studied how subharmonics relate to the main frequencies.

How Fundamental

fundamental
  • Specialized
1 7.9
nonfundamental
  • Specialized
8.2
subharmonic
  • Specialized
1 8.4

Surface Forms

subharmonic singular
subharmonics plural

Morphology

subharmonic = harmonic (semi-transparent) = sub + harmonic

The word is transparently formed from 'sub-' and 'harmonic' but denotes a technical fractional relation that requires domain knowledge.

Etymology

A subharmonic is a lower frequency: sub- means 'below' and harmonic comes from harmony meaning 'fitting together'. So a subharmonic is a tone like one-half or one-third of the main frequency that still 'fits' the original sound.