noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/kəʊˈhɪəɹ.ən(t)s/
General-American:/koʊˈhɪɹ.ən(t)s/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:K OW0 HH IH1 R AH0 N S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The quality of cohering, or being coherent; internal consistency.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
His arguments lacked coherence.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The quality of forming a unified whole.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A logical arrangement of parts, as in writing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
The property of having the same wavelength and phase.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: coherency, cohesion, cohesiveness
Antonyms: incoherence
Broader terms: connection, link, connectedness
Narrower terms: consistency, continuity
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Latin haereō Latin cohaereō Latin cohaerēns Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin cohaerentiader. Middle French coherenceder. English coherence From Middle French coherence, from Latin cohaerentia. By surface analysis, cohere + -ence.
Across languages
Translations
61 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Belarusian:
скла́днасць
(skládnascʹ)
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Belarusian:
звя́знасць
(zvjáznascʹ)
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Bulgarian:
съгласуваност
(sǎglasuvanost)
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Catalan:
coherència
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Chinese Cantonese:
倫次 /伦次
(leon4 ci3)
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Czech:
soudržnost
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Finnish:
johdonmukaisuus
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
French:
cohérence
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
German:
Kohärenz
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
German:
Geschlossenheit
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Greek:
συνοχή
(synochí)
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Greek:
συνάφεια
(synáfeia)
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Italian:
coerenza
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Latin:
cohaerentia
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Lithuanian:
darna
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Norwegian:
sammenheng
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Polish:
koherencja
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Polish:
kohezja
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Polish:
spójność
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Portuguese:
coerência
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Russian:
свя́зность
(svjáznostʹ)
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Spanish:
coherencia
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Turkish:
insicam
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Turkish:
tutarlılık
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Turkish:
tutarlık
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Turkish:
bağdaşım
— quality of cohering; of being coherent
Belarusian:
паслядо́ўнасць
(pasljadównascʹ)
— logical arrangements of parts
Bulgarian:
свързване
(svǎrzvane)
— logical arrangements of parts
Catalan:
coherència
— logical arrangements of parts
Finnish:
kokonaisuus
— logical arrangements of parts
Finnish:
koherenssi
— logical arrangements of parts
Finnish:
yhtenäisyys
— logical arrangements of parts
German:
Zusammenhang
— logical arrangements of parts
Greek:
συνοχή
(synochí)
— logical arrangements of parts
Greek:
συνάφεια
(synáfeia)
— logical arrangements of parts
Polish:
koherencja
— logical arrangements of parts
Polish:
kohezja
— logical arrangements of parts
Polish:
spójność
— logical arrangements of parts
Portuguese:
coerência
— logical arrangements of parts
Russian:
после́довательность
(poslédovatelʹnostʹ)
— logical arrangements of parts
Spanish:
coherencia
— logical arrangements of parts
Turkish:
âhenk
— logical arrangements of parts
Turkish:
tutarlılık
— logical arrangements of parts
Turkish:
uyumluluk
— logical arrangements of parts
Belarusian:
кагерэ́нтнасць
(kahjeréntnascʹ)
— having the same wavelength and phase
Bulgarian:
кохерентност
(koherentnost)
— having the same wavelength and phase
Catalan:
coherència
— having the same wavelength and phase
Czech:
koherence
— having the same wavelength and phase
Finnish:
koherenssi
— having the same wavelength and phase
German:
Kohärenz
— having the same wavelength and phase
Greek:
συμφωνία
(symfonía)
— having the same wavelength and phase
Polish:
koherencja
— having the same wavelength and phase
Portuguese:
coerência
— having the same wavelength and phase
Russian:
когере́нтность
(kogeréntnostʹ)
— having the same wavelength and phase
Turkish:
koherent
— having the same wavelength and phase
Catalan:
concordança
— semantic relationship
Chinese Mandarin:
連貫性 /连贯性
(liánguànxìng)
— semantic relationship
