wavelength

English

Etymology

From wave +‎ length.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈweɪvlɛŋ(k)θ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈweɪvˌlɛŋ(k)θ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

wavelength (plural wavelengths)

1. (physics) The length of a single cycle of a wave, as measured by the distance between one peak or trough of a wave and the next; it is often designated in physics as λ, and corresponds to the velocity of the wave divided by its frequency.
   • 1983, Wall of Voodoo (lyrics and music), “Mexican Radio”, in Call of the West:

     I'd take requests on the telephone / I'm on a wavelength far from home

2. (figurative) A person's attitude and way of thinking as compared to another person's.

   I think you and I are on a different wavelength.

Derived terms

• de Broglie wavelength
• multiwavelength
• quarter-wavelength film
• three-wavelength
• two-wavelength

 

Related terms

• on the same wavelength

Translations

the length of a single cycle of a wave

• Afrikaans: golflengte
• Albanian: gjatësia e valës
• Arabic: طُول مَوْج m (ṭūl mawj)
• Armenian: ալիքի երկարություն (alikʻi erkarutʻyun)
• Asturian: llonxitú d'onda f
• Azerbaijani: dalğa uzunluğu
• Basque: uhin-luzera
• Belarusian: даўжыня́ хва́лі f (daŭžynjá xváli)
• Bengali: তরঙ্গ দৈর্ঘ্য (toroṅgo dōirggho)
• Breton: hirder gwagenn
• Bulgarian: дължина́ на вълна́та f (dǎlžiná na vǎlnáta)
• Catalan: longitud d'ona f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 波長／波长 (zh) (bōcháng)

• Czech: vlnová délka f
• Danish: bølgelængde c
• Dutch: golflengte (nl) f
• Esperanto: ondolongo
• Estonian: lainepikkus (et)
• Finnish: aallonpituus (fi)
• French: longueur d’onde (fr) f
• Galician: lonxitude de onda (gl) f
• Georgian: ტალღის სიგრძე (ṭalɣis sigrʒe)
• German: Wellenlänge (de) f
• Greek: μήκος κύματος (el) n (míkos kýmatos)
• Gujarati: તરંગલંબાઈ (taraṅglambāī)
• Haitian Creole: longèdonn
• Hebrew: אורך גל / אֹרֶךְ גַּל (he) m (órekh gal)
• Hindi: तरंगदैर्घ्य (taraṅgdairghya)
• Hungarian: hullámhossz (hu)
• Icelandic: bylgjulengd (is) f
• Indonesian: panjang gelombang
• Irish: tonnfhad (ga) m
• Italian: lunghezza d'onda (it) f
• Japanese: 波長 (ja) (はちょう, hachō)
• Kazakh: толқын ұзындығы (tolqyn ūzyndyğy)
• Khmer: ជំហានរលក (cumhiən rɔlɔɔk), ប្រវែងរលក (prɑvaeng rɔlɔɔk)
• Korean: 파장(波長) (ko) (pajang)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: dirêjiya pêlê f, pêldirêjahî

• Lao: ຄວາມຍາວຄື້ນ (khuām nyāo khư̄n)
• Latvian: viļņa garums m
• Lithuanian: bangos ilgis m
• Luxembourgish: Wellelängt f
• Macedonian: бра́нова до́лжина f (bránova dólžina)
• Malay: panjang gelombang (ms)
• Malayalam: തരംഗദൈർഘ്യം (ml) (taraṅgadaiṟghyaṁ)
• Maori: roangaru
• Marathi: तरंगलांबी (taraṅglāmbī)
• Mongolian: долгионы урт (dolgiony urt)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bølgelengde m or f

  Nynorsk: bølgjelengd f, bylgjelengd f, bølgelengd f, bølgelengde f

• Occitan: longor d'onda
• Oromo: dambalii
• Persian: طول موج (tul-e mowj)
• Polish: długość fali (pl) f
• Portuguese: comprimento de onda m
• Romanian: lungime de undă (ro) f
• Russian: длина́ волны́ (ru) f (dliná volný), волна́ (ru) f (volná) (colloquial)
• Scottish Gaelic: tonn-fhad m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: valna duljina f, talasna duljina f

• Sinhalese: තරංග ආයාමය (taraṁga āyāmaya)
• Slovak: vlnová dĺžka f
• Slovene: valovna dolžina f
• Spanish: longitud de onda (es) f
• Swedish: våglängd (sv) c
• Tagalog: habang-alon (mechanical), libuyhaba (electromagnetic)
• Tajik: адади мавҷӣ (adad-i mavji)
• Tamil: அலைநீளம் (ta) (alainīḷam)
• Telugu: తరంగదైర్ఘ్యము (taraṅgadairghyamu)
• Thai: ความยาวคลื่น (kwaam-yaao-klʉ̂ʉn)
• Turkish: dalga boyu (tr)
• Ukrainian: довжина́ хви́лі f (dovžyná xvýli)
• Urdu: طولِ موج (tol-i moj)
• Uzbek: toʻlqin uzunligi
• Vietnamese: bước sóng (vi)
• Welsh: tonfedd (cy) f
• West Frisian: weachlingte
• Western Panjabi: لہر لمبائی (lhr lmbā'ī)