Standard Lemma guide

frequency

noun · 9 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.

  • frĕʹkwən-sē
  • /ˈfɹiːkwənsi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F R IY1 K W AH0 N S IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The rate of occurrence of anything; the relationship between incidence and time period.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • With growing confidence, the Viking’s raids increased in frequency.
  • The frequency of bus service has been improved from one every 15 to one every 12 minutes.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The property of occurring often rather than infrequently.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • The FAQ addresses questions that come up with some frequency.
  • The frequency of the visits was what annoyed him.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The quotient of the number of times n a periodic phenomenon occurs over the time t in which it occurs: f=n/t.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Examples

  • The frequency of the musical note A above middle C is 440 oscillations per second.
  • The frequency of a wave is its velocity v divided by its wavelength #92;lambda: f#61;v#47;#92;lambda.
  • Broadcasting live at a frequency of 98.3 megahertz, we’re your rock alternative!
  • The frequency for electric power in the Americas is generally 60 Hz rather than 50.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A tone, character, mood, or vibe

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

5

noun

Meaning 5

number of times an event occurred in an experiment (absolute frequency)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: mathematics, sciences, statistics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

range of electromagnetic waves used for wireless communication in devices like radios, TVs and mobile phones

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: communications, electrical-engineering, engineering, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, telecommunications

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

the number of observations in a given statistical category

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: absolute frequency

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cardinal number, cardinal

8

noun

Meaning 8

the ratio of the number of observations in a statistical category to the total number of observations

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: relative frequency

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ratio

Narrower terms: incidence, relative incidence

9

noun

Meaning 9

the number of occurrences within a given time period

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the frequency of modulation was 40 cycles per second
  • the frequency of his seizures increased as he grew older

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: frequence, oftenness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: rate

Narrower terms: audio, audio frequency, radio frequency, infrared, infrared frequency, wave number, attendance, count per minute, counts/minute, sampling frequency

History

Etymology

From Latin frequentia, from frequens. By surface analysis, frequent + -cy.

Across languages

Translations

170 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: تَرَدُّد (taraddud) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Aragonese: freqüencia — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Armenian: հաճախականություն (hačaxakanutʻyun) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Azerbaijani: tezlik — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Belarusian: частата́ (častatá) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Belarusian: ча́стасць (částascʹ) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Bulgarian: честота́ (čestotá) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Burmese: အကြိမ် (a.krim) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Catalan: freqüència — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Chinese Mandarin: 頻率 /频率 (pínlǜ) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Chinese Mandarin: 頻度 /频度 (píndù) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Chinese Mandarin: 次數 /次数 (cìshù) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Czech: četnost — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Czech: frekvence — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Danish: hyppighed — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Dutch: frequentie — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Esperanto: ofto — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Faroese: tíðføri — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Faroese: tíðleiki — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Faroese: tídd — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Finnish: taajuus — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Finnish: frekvenssi — rate of occurrence of anything
  • French: fréquence — rate of occurrence of anything
  • West-Frisian: frekwinsje — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Galician: frecuencia — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Georgian: სიხშირე (sixšire) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • German: Häufigkeit — rate of occurrence of anything
  • German: Frequenz — rate of occurrence of anything
  • German: Regelmäßigkeit — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Greek: συχνότητα (sychnótita) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Hebrew: תדירות (tedirút) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Hindi: आवृत्ति (āvŕtti) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Hungarian: gyakoriság — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Hungarian: ismétlődés — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Icelandic: tíðni — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Indonesian: frekuensi — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Italian: frequenza — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Japanese: 頻度 (hindo) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Kazakh: жиілік (jiılık) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Korean: 빈도 (bindo) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Kyrgyz: жыштык (jıştık) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Lao: ຄວາມຖີ່ (khuām thī) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Latin: crēbritās — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Macedonian: че́стота (čéstota) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Malay: kekerapan — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Malay: frekuensi — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Māori: auautanga — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Marathi: वारंवारता (vārauvārtā) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hyppighet — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Persian: بسامد (basâmad) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Polish: częstość — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Polish: częstotliwość — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Portuguese: frequência — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Romanian: frecvență — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Russian: частота́ (častotá) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Scottish Gaelic: bitheantas — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Scottish Gaelic: tricead — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Serbo-Croatian: učestalost — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Serbo-Croatian: čestoća — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Serbo-Croatian: čestost — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Serbo-Croatian: učestanost — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Slovak: frekvencia — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Slovak: početnosť — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Slovene: pogostost — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Spanish: frecuencia — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Swedish: frekvens — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Tagalog: dalas — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Tajik: басомад (basomad) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Thai: ความถี่ (kwaam-tìi) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Turkish: frekans — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Ukrainian: ча́стість (částistʹ) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Ukrainian: частота́ (častotá) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Urdu: تَعَدُّد (ta'addud) — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Uzbek: tezlik — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Vietnamese: tính thường xuyên — rate of occurrence of anything
  • Aragonese: freqüencia — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Armenian: հաճախություն (hačaxutʻyun) — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Belarusian: частата́ (častatá) — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Catalan: freqüència — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Chinese Mandarin: 常常 (chángcháng) — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Czech: častost — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Czech: frekvence — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Dutch: regelmaat — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Esperanto: ofteco — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Faroese: tíðføri — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Faroese: tíðleiki — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Faroese: tídd — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Finnish: yleisyys — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • French: fréquence — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Galician: frecuencia — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • German: Häufigkeit — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Greek: συχνότητα (sychnótita) — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Hungarian: gyakoriság — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Italian: frequenza — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Macedonian: че́стота (čéstota) — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Malay: kekerapan — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hyppighet — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Polish: częstość — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Portuguese: frequência — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Romanian: desime — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Romanian: frecvență — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Scottish Gaelic: bitheantas — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Scottish Gaelic: tricead — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Slovak: frekvencia — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Slovak: častosť — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Spanish: frecuencia — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Tagalog: dalas — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Thai: ความถี่ (kwaam-tìi) — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Turkish: frekans — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Ukrainian: частота́ (častotá) — property of occurring often rather than infrequently
  • Arabic: تَرَدُّد (taraddud) — The quotient of the number of times a periodic phenomenon occurs over the time in which it occurs
  • Finnish: taajuus — The quotient of the number of times a periodic phenomenon occurs over the time in which it occurs
  • Indonesian: frekuensi — The quotient of the number of times a periodic phenomenon occurs over the time in which it occurs
  • Māori: iarere — The quotient of the number of times a periodic phenomenon occurs over the time in which it occurs
  • Urdu: تَعَدُّد (ta'addud) — The quotient of the number of times a periodic phenomenon occurs over the time in which it occurs
  • Arabic: تَرَدُّد (taraddud) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Aragonese: freqüencia — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Armenian: հաճախություն (hačaxutʻyun) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Azerbaijani: tezlik — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Belarusian: частата́ (častatá) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Bengali: কম্পাঙ্ক (kompaṅko) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Bulgarian: честота́ (čestotá) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Catalan: freqüència — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Chinese Mandarin: 頻數 /频数 (pínshù) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Czech: frekvence — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Czech: kmitočet — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Danish: frekvens — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Dutch: frequentie — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Esperanto: frekvenco — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Faroese: tíðføri — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Faroese: tíðleiki — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Faroese: tídd — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Finnish: taajuus — number of occurrences divided by time
  • French: fréquence — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Galician: frecuencia — number of occurrences divided by time
  • German: Frequenz — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Greek: συχνότητα (sychnótita) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Hebrew: תדירות (tedirút) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Hebrew: תדר (téder) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Hungarian: frekvencia — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Icelandic: tíðni — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Italian: frequenza — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Japanese: 周波数 (shūhasū) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Khmer: ប្រេកង់ (preekɑng) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Korean: 진동수 (jindongsu) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Lao: ຄວາມຖີ່ (khuām thī) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Latvian: frekvence — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Macedonian: че́стота (čéstota) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Macedonian: фрекве́нција (frekvéncija) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Malay: frekuensi — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Norwegian: frekvens — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Persian: فرکانس (ferekâns) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Polish: częstotliwość — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Portuguese: frequência — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Romanian: frecvență — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Russian: частота́ (častotá) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Serbo-Croatian: фреквѐнција — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Serbo-Croatian: frekvèncija — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Slovak: frekvencia — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Slovak: kmitočet — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Slovene: frekvenca — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Slovene: pogostost — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Spanish: frecuencia — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Swedish: frekvens — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Tagalog: dalas — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Thai: ความถี่ (kwaam-tìi) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Turkish: frekans — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Ukrainian: частота́ (častotá) — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Uzbek: chastota — number of occurrences divided by time
  • Vietnamese: tần số — number of occurrences divided by time
Real reading context

frequency in complete knowledge articles