Phrase guide

transverse wave

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.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any wave in which the direction of disturbance is perpendicular to the direction of travel

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From transverse + wave.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: ona transversal — type of wave
  • Chinese Cantonese: 橫波 /横波 (waang4 bo1) — type of wave
  • Chinese Mandarin: 橫波 /横波 (héngbō) — type of wave
  • Danish: tværbølge — type of wave
  • Finnish: poikittaisaalto — type of wave
  • French: onde transversale — type of wave
  • German: Transversalwelle — type of wave
  • German: Querwelle — type of wave
  • German: Schubwelle — type of wave
  • German: Scherwelle — type of wave
  • Hawaiian: hawewe ʻaleʻale — type of wave
  • Italian: onda trasversale — type of wave
  • Japanese: 横波 (yokonami) — type of wave
  • Korean: 횡파 (hoengpa) — type of wave
  • Polish: fala poprzeczna — type of wave
  • Portuguese: onda transversal — type of wave
  • Russian: поперечная волна (poperečnaja volna) — type of wave
  • Spanish: onda transversal — type of wave
  • Tagalog: along halang — type of wave
  • Vietnamese: sóng ngang — type of wave
  • Welsh: ton drawslin — type of wave