- pertaining to harmony, as distinguished from melody and rhythm.
- marked by harmony; in harmony; concordant; consonant.
- Physics. of, relating to, or noting a series of oscillations in which each oscillation has a frequency that is an integral multiple of the same basic frequency.
- (of a set of values) related in a manner analogous to the frequencies of tones that are consonant.
- capable of being represented by sine and cosine functions.
- (of a function) satisfying the Laplace equation.
- Music. overtone(def 1).
- Physics. a single oscillation whose frequency is an integral multiple of the fundamental frequency.
Origin of harmonic
Examples from the Web for harmonic
To step inside Madison Square Garden was to grab hold of a lifeline to an alternate world of harmonic order and balance.‘When the Garden Was Eden’: Why New York City Needs the Knicks Now More Than Ever
April 19, 2014
His researches on the dynamo caused him to devise what he calls an 'harmonic engine.'Heroes of the Telegraph
The law of harmonic sounds reappears in the harmonic colors.Nature
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Art has been defined as "the harmonic expression of the emotions."College Teaching
In it are the harmonic, melodic, and spiritual germs of modern music.Old Fogy
This volume is an aid to the study of the “Harmonic Series.”The New Avatar and The Destiny of the Soul
Jirah D. Buck
- of, involving, producing, or characterized by harmony; harmonious
- music of, relating to, or belonging to harmony
- capable of expression in the form of sine and cosine functions
- of or relating to numbers whose reciprocals form an arithmetic progression
- physics of or concerned with an oscillation that has a frequency that is an integral multiple of a fundamental frequency
- physics of or concerned with harmonics
- physics music a component of a periodic quantity, such as a musical tone, with a frequency that is an integral multiple of the fundamental frequency. The first harmonic is the fundamental, the second harmonic (twice the fundamental frequency) is the first overtone, the third harmonic (three times the fundamental frequency) is the second overtone, etc
- music (not in technical use) overtone: in this case, the first overtone is the first harmonic, etc
Word Origin and History for harmonic
1560s, "relating to music;" earlier (c.1500) armonical "tuneful, harmonious," from Latin harmonicus, from Greek harmonikos "harmonic, musical, skilled in music," from harmonia (see harmony). Meaning "relating to harmony" is from 1660s. The noun, short for harmionic tone, is recorded from 1777.
- Periodic motion whose frequency is a whole-number multiple of some fundamental frequency. The motion of objects or substances that vibrate or oscillate in a regular fashion, such as the strings of musical instruments, can be analyzed as a combination of a fundamental frequency and higher harmonics.♦ Harmonics above the first harmonic (the fundamental frequency) in sound waves are called overtones. The first overtone is the second harmonic, the second overtone is the third harmonic, and so on.
- Related to or having the properties of such periodic motion.