Etymograph

English

resonance

Resonance comes from Latin resonantia ‘echo’, from resonō ‘to resound’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- ‘to sound’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swenh₂-1‘to sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swonh₂éyeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swonaō1‘to sound, resound’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonō1‘make a noise, sound, resound’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEresonō2‘to resound’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEresonantia2‘echo’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400resonance2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1897resonance2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin resono
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English resonance
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula: “The leiter-wagons contained great, square boxes, with handles of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swenh₂-Wiktionary, Latin resono‘to sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swonh₂éyetiWiktionary, Latin resonoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swonaōWiktionary, Latin resono‘to sound, resound’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonōWiktionary, Latin resono‘make a noise, sound, resound’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEresonōWiktionary, English resonance‘to resound’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEresonantiaWiktionary, English resonance‘echo’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400resonanceWiktionary, English resonance
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1897resonanceWiktionary, English resonance. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula: “The leiter-wagons contained great, square boxes, with handles of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- ‘to sound’

sound, swan, unison, sonnet, sone, 12 more

through Proto-Italic *swonaō ‘to sound, resound’

impersonal, 8 more

through Latin sonō ‘make a noise, sound, resound’

personal, personnel, parson, sonorous, consonance, 9 more

through Latin resonō ‘to resound’

re, resound, 2 more

Today it means

noun The quality of being resonant.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “resonance”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin resono. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- / resonance

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