Standard Lemma guide

T-ray

noun · 1 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: /ˈtiːˌɹeɪ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈtiˌɹeɪ/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An electromagnetic wave with a frequency intermediate between, and sharing the properties of, short radio waves and long infrared waves, generally in the 0.1 to 10 terahertz (THz) band of frequencies.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: also, attributive, in-plural

Topics: business, electrical, electrical-engineering, electricity, electromagnetism, energy, engineering, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: T-wave

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: submillimeter wave radiation, terahertz radiation, tremendously high frequency

History

Etymology

Initialism of t(erahertz) + ray, modelled after X-ray. The term was coined in Bell Labs in the United States in the mid-1990s.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: raig T — electromagnetic wave with a frequency intermediate between, and sharing the properties of, short radio waves and long infrared waves
  • Finnish: terahertsiaalto — electromagnetic wave with a frequency intermediate between, and sharing the properties of, short radio waves and long infrared waves
  • Polish: fala submilimetrowa — electromagnetic wave with a frequency intermediate between, and sharing the properties of, short radio waves and long infrared waves