# echo

Pronunciation: say "EK-oh" US /ˈɛkoʊ/, UK /ˈɛkəʊ/

## Noun

1. A sound that returns to the listener after reflecting off a surface.
   - Simple: A sound that bounces back to you so you hear it again.
   - _A faint echo answered every word she called across the lake._
   - _Climbers in the gorge listened for the echo to judge the distance to the far wall._
4. A reminder or reflection of something from an earlier time.
   - Simple: Something that reminds you of an earlier thing.
   - _Critics found in the novel a clear echo of older epic poetry._
   - _The melody held a faint echo of a folk tune from her childhood._
6. A sympathetic response or recognition; an answering feeling in another person.
   - Simple: A response that shows someone shares your feelings.
   - _The speaker's grief found a deep echo among the gathered mourners._
   - _Her hopes for the project met no echo at all from the board._
7. A minor, indirect result of an earlier event; a lingering ripple.
   - Simple: A small, indirect result of something that happened.
   - _The scandal faded long ago, but its echoes still shape how voters see the council._
   - _Higher insurance prices are one lasting echo of last year's floods._
8. Short for echocardiogram: an ultrasound scan of the heart, or the moving image it produces. *(colloquial)* — Clipping of echocardiogram.
   - Simple: Short for echocardiogram: a heart scan that uses sound waves.
   - _The cardiologist ordered an echo to check her heart valves._
   - _His echo showed a healthy, strongly pumping heart muscle._
9. A spoken repetition of what has just been said.
   - Simple: A reply that repeats the words someone just said.
   - _Every order shouted to the kitchen returned as an echo from the cook._
   - _His speech was little more than an echo of the chairman's remarks._
11. Alternative letter-case form of Echo from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet.
   - Simple: Alternative letter-case form of Echo from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet. It stands for the letter E when you spell words aloud.
   - _The controller confirmed the call sign as echo, niner, four._
   - _Spell the surname with echo to mark the E over the radio._
12. The display of typed characters or commands back on the screen as they are entered or carried out.
   - Simple: The way a computer shows back on screen the command you just typed.
   - _Echo was turned off, so the typed password never appeared on screen._
   - _She switched on echo to watch each command repeat as she typed._

## Verb

2. To repeat another person's words, opinions, or ideas.
   - Simple: To say again what someone else has said or thought.
   - _The new manager simply echoed her boss's instructions at the meeting._
   - _Pundits across the channels echo the same talking points each evening._
3. Of a sound, to be reflected off a surface and heard again; of a place, to reflect sound back so that it repeats.
   - Simple: For a sound to bounce back so you hear it again, or for a place to make sounds bounce back.
   - _Her footsteps echoed down the empty marble hallway._
   - _Voices echo for several seconds in the old stone cathedral._
5. Of a rumor or opinion, to spread and be repeated widely.
   - Simple: Of news or opinions, to spread and be repeated by many people.
   - _The accusation echoed through the office for the rest of the week._
   - _Calls for reform echo across the country after each scandal._
10. To repeat received input, passing it on as input to some other device or system.
   - Simple: To send the same input a device receives straight on to another device or system.
   - _The terminal echoes each keystroke to the remote server._
   - _Engineers configured the device to echo its input to a backup system._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A poetic device in which a line closes on a word that recalls the sound of the previous line's final word.
- (noun) A punctuation marking, ((( ))), placed around a name to signal that a person is Jewish: originally antisemitic, but also reclaimed by some to declare Jewish identity or solidarity.
- (noun) An individual discussion forum operating on the echomail message-distribution system.
- (noun) In bridge and whist, a signal made by the order in which cards are played, showing a partner how many cards one holds in a suit, including trumps.
- (verb) To give the echo signal, letting one's partner know about the cards one holds.

## Origin

It comes from Ancient Greek ἠχώ (ēkhṓ), from ἠχή (ēkhḗ, 'sound'), passing through Latin and Medieval Latin into Middle English. It possibly derives from the same Proto-Indo-European root as 'sough'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/echo (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).