sonarn.
/ˈsəʊnɑː/, U.S. /ˈsoʊˌnɑr/ Originally U.S.
1.
a. A method or system for detecting or locating underwater objects using sound, in which pulses of audible or higher-frequency sound are emitted, and any sound waves reflected by an object are detected to reveal the object's presence, or measured to determine its nature, position, or speed. Also: a similar system which passively detects sounds emitted by other objects but does not emit sound pulses itself.An earlier British term for this was Asdic (Asdic n.); cf. quot. 1963.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > other types of sound telecommunication > [noun]
telephoning1877
radiophony1880
photophony1881
sonar1943
pinger1957
side scan1996
society > communication > telecommunication > other types of sound telecommunication > [adjective]
telephonic?1835
photophonic1880
radiophonic1881
telephoned1890
sonar1943
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > instrument for detection > [noun] > system investigating sea, atmosphere, etc.
sonar1943
pinger1957
1943 U.S. Fleet Anti-Submarine Bull. Nov. (P.R.O.: ADM 199/1789) 35 The use of the coined word ‘SONAR’ has been approved to designate the science and the art of transmission and reception of underwater sound.
1963 Times 2 Feb. 5/2 In order to conform with NATO practice, the name Asdic..has been superseded by the word Sonar, the Admiralty announced yesterday.
1971 New Scientist 3 June 568/1 The standard method of detecting submerged submarines is by sonar, either active or passive.
1991 G. E. McDowell Tail Gunner's Tale x. 129 The engines were cut as we crept onward for some time, using sonar to find the iceberg.
2016 MailOnline (Nexis) 12 Sept. We called the dive team and they utilized their sonar as well.
b. A device used for this; a piece of sonar equipment.
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1944 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 10 Dec. 18/2 Elaborate electrical circuits, like those in radars, sonars and fire-control directors, cannot be described in words alone.
1946 U.S. Navy Press Release 6 Apr. 1 The word ‘sonar’ was coined from abbreviations for sound, navigation and ranging, and includes various types of underwater sound devices used in detecting submarines and other submerged objects and in obtaining water depths.
1974 Sci. Amer. Mar. 120/2 Frequency-modulation sonars..can exploit a Doppler signal to measure speed.
2006 Evening Post (Nottingham) (Nexis) 19 Apr. 48 Ordinary Seaman Farnsworth stayed at his post, listening to the steady ping of the sonar as the enemy above hunted for them.
2. A natural method or facility whereby certain animals (esp. dolphins, toothed whales, and many bats) navigate, locate objects, and identify food items by emitting sounds and registering the returning echoes; echolocation.Recorded earliest in attributive use.biosonar: see the first element.
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1953 Science 6 Mar. 243/2 T. truncatus certainly possesses what may be described as a ‘sonar system’.
1961 W. N. Kellogg Porpoises & Sonar (1962) iv. 48 The idea that sonar is systematically used by the great whales and porpoises is..a new and intriguing thought.
1995 Neural Networks 8 150/1 The perception of target range in echolocating bats has been the focus of many behavioral studies..; however, the perception of target shape via sonar has received comparatively little attention.
2005 Sci. News 14 May 315/2 Some insects have evolved to emit high-pitched squeaks of their own, signals that may disrupt the bat's sonar.
3. Medicine. A diagnostic technique which uses echoes of ultrasonic pulses to delineate structures within the body; = ultrasonography n. Now rare.
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the world > health and disease > healing > diagnosis or prognosis > radiography or radiology > ultrasonography > [noun]
sonography1952
sonar1962
ultrasonography1980
sonology1984
1962 Lancet 6 Jan. 56/2 Friday, 12th... Royal Society of Medicine. 6 P.M... Prof. Ian Donald: Sonar, a new Diagnostic Echo-sounding Technique in Obstetrics and Gynæcology.
1973 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 6 Oct. 28/1 The ‘in utero’ crown-rump length of the fetus may be determined by sonar in the first trimester of pregnancy.
1986 E. P. W. Tatford Probl. Gynaecol. iii. 73 Sonar is of particular use in the adolescent for the determination and often more important the exclusion of congenital abnormalities of the uterus.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, as sonar equipment, sonar dome, sonar ping, etc.
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1943 U.S. Fleet Anti-Submarine Bull. Nov. (P.R.O.: ADM 199/1789) 36 Application of present sonar equipment to mine detection. Echo ranging equipment can be used to advantage in locating mines under certain conditions.
1944 Sandusky (Ohio) Reg. 18 Feb. 7/2 Sonar Operator School, Class 109.
1968 M. Woodhouse Rock Baby xiii. 129 Bats swooped past my head, bouncing their tiny high-pitched sonar echoes off me.
1984 T. Clancy Hunt for Red October xvii. 355 The sonar dome in the Pogy's bow was blasting sound energy into the water.
2016 C. Wadsworth Editor's Toolkit xi. 157/2 There is very little dialogue in the sequence, only the sound of the ship's engines,..and the insistent sonar pings.
C2.
sonar buoy n. (originally) a floating device equipped to detect underwater sounds and relay them by radio; (later usually) such a device which emits sonar signals to detect submarines or other underwater objects and which is able to transmit their position; cf. sonobuoy n.
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1946 Somerset (Pa.) Daily Amer. 7 Mar. 6/2 The navy also has sonar buoys audible 20 miles.
1954 Barron's 25 Oct. 17/3 The Navy also has sonar buoys which, when dropped into the water, give automatic radio broadcasts of submarine positions.
1992 J. Hamilton-Paterson Seven-tenths i. i. 21 Somebody else will come along on a [mineral] sampling trip to see what the quality's like and they'll want to be able to arrive at the precise point and drop a sonar buoy.
sonarman n. Navy (originally and chiefly U.S.) a person responsible for the operation and maintenance of sonar equipment; = sonar technician n. Now chiefly historical.In U.S. Navy use replaced by sonar technician (see sonar technician n.) from the 1960s.
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1944 Bureau Naval Personnel Information Bull. May 22/3 Sonarman. Operates sound-detection equipment.
1962 J. A. Field Hist. U.S. Naval Operations vi. 159 The sonarmen on the destroyers were kept jumping by numerous contacts attributed to the whales.
2003 New Zealand Herald (Nexis) 1 Sept. The 19-year-old is a sonarman in the Navy.
2014 Daily News (Jacksonville, N. Carolina) 25 Apr. 32/3 World War II veteran Claude May said he will never forget his time spent in the U.S. Navy as a sonarman in the Pacific Ocean from 1943 until 1946.
sonar technician n. Navy (originally and chiefly U.S.) a person responsible for the operation and maintenance of sonar equipment; cf. sonarman n.
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1945 Bedford (Pa.) Gaz. 13 Apr. 7/6 He finished third in his class and now ranks as a sonar technician.
1994 Amer. Jrnl. Internat. Law 88 506 Naval sonar technicians investigate whether techniques used to track Soviet submarines can be adapted to counting whales and dolphins.
2007 Times 5 Oct. 21/1 According to the board's findings, an error of judgement had been made by a Royal Navy sonar technician.
2016 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 3 Oct. (Sports section) d9 When you've gone through Navy boot camp and served in a nuclear submarine as a sonar technician, you're ready for anything.
Derivatives
ˈsonar-like adj.
ΚΠ
1954 Sci. Amer. Mar. 79/2 Did the guácharo guide its flight in the darkness by means of a similar sonar-like system in the audible range?
1973 N.Y. Times 24 Dec. 30/5 Echo-cardiography..uses sonar-like sound waves of extremely high frequency to produce pictures of the internal structures of the heart.
2013 D. Pogue OS X Mavericks xvii. 655 When you click this button, a very loud sonar-like pinging sound instantly chimes on your Mac.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1943