Fwd: "wavelength" - Word of the Day from the OED

Mon Mar 2 20:40:38 CST 2009

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Subject: "wavelength" - Word of the Day from the OED
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OED Online Word of the Day
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wavelength

SECOND EDITION 1989

Also wave length, wave-length. [f. WAVE n. + LENGTH n.]

    1. a. The distance between successive peaks or maxima of a wave;
esp. this as a distinctive feature of the radio waves used to carry a
particular programme service.

1850 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1849 II. 11 It was well known..that
Fraunhofer had most accurately measured the wave lengths of seven of
the principal fixed lines in the solar spectrum. 1871 SCHELLEN
Spectrum Anal. §18. 59 The rays of shortest wave~length, namely the
violet. 1881 BROADHOUSE Mus. Acoustics 66 The fork..condenses..a bulk
of air equal in length to the wave-length of its own pitch. 1907 V.
CORNISH in Geogr. Jrnl. Jan. 25 The water may commonly be seen
to..grow in the space of a few yards to a uniform wave-length of about
2 feet. 1925 Scribner's Mag. July 47/2 He swung the dials round to
where he could receive the commercial wave lengths. 1950 Engineering
24 Mar. 337/3 The reasons for changes in the wavelengths of European
broadcasting stations..are explained. 1971 Daily Tel. 18 Jan. 7/4 His
experts have also juggled wavelengths to make air space for both Radio
1 and the commercial network. 1977 P. B. & J. S. MEDAWAR Life Sci. i.
20 Ordinary light microscopy has the disadvantage that nothing can be
seen that is smaller than the wavelength of visible light.

    b. Electromagnetic waves of the wavelength described.

1915 R. A. HOUSTON Treat. Light xxv. 449 He assumes the existence of
an enclosure containing a great number of Hertzian oscillators all
radiating and absorbing the same wave-length. 1937 JENKINS & WHITE
Fund. Physical Optics xii. 277 Substances are said to show selective
reflection when certain wave-lengths are reflected much more strongly
than others. 1982 Sci. Amer. Aug. 52/1 Most ultraviolet
wavelengths..cannot penetrate the earth's atmosphere.

    c. The distance between adjacent heights or hollows in a body with
a wave-like surface.

1958 Spectator 31 Jan. 133/3 The wavelength of the corrugations [on
Persian roads] is considerably larger than the pace of a sheep or
goat. 1977 Sci. Amer. Apr. 30/1 Nearly constant winds blow across the
basin with such force that they pile up sand dunes as much as 150
kilometres long with wavelengths of three to five kilometres, clearly
visible in satellite pictures.

    2. fig. with allusion to radio reception, implying (esp. mutual)
understanding; esp. in phr. to be on the same wavelength (as someone
else), to understand each other.

1927 Amer. Speech II. 276/2 Have one's wave length, know one's
sentiments. 1929 A. E. HOUSMAN Let. 16 Feb. (1971) I. 276 Only the
archangel Raphael could recite my poetry properly, but..you would do
it quite nicely, and I shall try not to set up interfering
wave~lengths. a1936 KIPLING Let. in C. Carrington Rudyard Kipling
(1955) xx. 509 Every man has to work out his creed according to his
own wave-length, and the hope is that the Great Receiving Station is
tuned to take all wave-lengths. 1938 Times Lit. Suppl. 24 Sept. 617/3
She finally comes to believe that she is the only person in Riverville
who was born civilized and that nobody else there is of her own
wavelength. 1947 T. S. ELIOT Milton 12 It is only in the period that
the wave-length of Milton's verse is to be found. 1959 Economist 6
June 919/2 Editors and publishers..have to..find the wave~length of
their..readers. 1964 H. WALDOCK in Barcelona Traction, Light & Power
Co. Case (Internat. Court of Justice) II. 112, I do not think that it
would assist the Court if I were to deal with every contention
advanced by our opponents in their Observations and Conclusions; for
on some points we are really not on the same wave~length. 1976 LD.
HOME Way Wind Blows ii. 27 In September A. W. Whitworth took over, and
I like to think we were soon on each other's wave-length. 1983 D.
DUNNETT Dolly & Bird of Paradise xiii. 168 We weren't on the same
wavelength really... He was clever. And my thoughts are easy to read.

    3. Special Comb.: wavelength constant = propagation constant s.v.
PROPAGATION 8.

1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 902/2 Wavelength constant. 1963 [see
propagation constant s.v. PROPAGATION 8].

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