frequency
Pluralfrequencies
- 1The rate at which something occurs; how often an event happens within a given period of time.
The frequency of earthquakes in the region has increased over the past decade.
Marketers track the frequency of repeat purchases among loyal customers.
Note
The everyday sense, and a neutral one: a frequency can be high or low. It is what changes when raids increase in frequency or when a bus that came every 15 minutes now comes every 12. The word reached English from Latin frequentia, built on frequens, the same root as frequent. Unlike the sense of happening often, this one only measures. It does not say the answer is 'a lot.'
- 2The number of times a periodic phenomenon occurs divided by the time over which it occurs.
The pendulum swings at a frequency of one cycle every two seconds.
Human ears can detect sound frequencies between roughly 20 and 20,000 hertz.
Note
The measuring sense, pinned to a number and usually given in hertz. The A above middle C sits at 440 oscillations per second, a rock station broadcasts at 98.3 megahertz, and mains power in the Americas generally runs at 60 Hz rather than 50. For a wave, the frequency can also be worked out as velocity divided by wavelength. Unlike the everyday rate, it is always countable.
- 3The fact of happening many times or at short intervals, as opposed to only rarely.
The frequency of his interruptions made the meeting hard to follow.
Critics noted the frequency of typos throughout the report.
Oppositerarity, infrequency
Note
Here the word carries a judgment rather than a figure. To mention the frequency of someone's visits is often to complain that there were too many of them. The phrase with some frequency is a measured way of saying 'fairly often.' Because this sense names a quality rather than a measurement, it is uncountable and takes no plural.
- 4The number of times an event occurred in an experiment; also called absolute frequency.
The frequency of sixes in sixty rolls of the die was nine.
In the survey data, the response 'satisfied' had the highest frequency.
Note
The statistician's frequency is a count, not a rate: nine sixes in sixty rolls, with no time period attached. That separates it from the physical rate per second. Its fuller name, absolute frequency, keeps the raw tally apart from relative frequency, which expresses the same count as a share of all trials.
- 5A tone, character, mood, or vibe that a person, place, or situation gives off.
The whole retreat operated on a mellow frequency that put guests at ease.
After the argument, the office's frequency shifted to something tense and quiet.
Similarvibe, mood, atmosphere
Note
A figurative use that borrows from the radio sense: a frequency is a signal that only some listeners are tuned to. Frankie de la Cretaz, writing in Cosmopolitan in 2023, finds 'gay frequencies' in a singer's lyrics and wig choices, cues that 'weren't meant for you.' The word sits close to vibe and mood. What sets it apart is the hint of a coded channel, picked up by those already listening.
Practice
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Origin
This comes from Latin "frequentia," from "frequens"; by surface analysis it can be read as "frequent" plus the suffix "-cy."