Standard Lemma guide

wavelength

noun · 4 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.

  • UK: /ˈweɪvlɛŋ(k)θ/
  • US: /ˈweɪvˌlɛŋ(k)θ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: W EY1 V L EH2 NG TH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The length of a single cycle of a wave, as measured by the distance between one peak or trough of a wave and the next; it is often designated in physics as λ, and corresponds to the velocity of the wave divided by its frequency.

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

2

noun

Meaning 2

A person's attitude and way of thinking as compared to another person's.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

Examples

  • I think you and I are on a different wavelength.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the distance (measured in the direction of propagation) between two points in the same phase in consecutive cycles of a wave

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: distance

4

noun

Meaning 4

a shared orientation leading to mutual understanding

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • they are on the same wavelength

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: orientation

History

Etymology

From wave + length.

Across languages

Translations

91 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: golflengte — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Albanian: gjatësia e valës — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Arabic: طُول مَوْج (ṭūl mawj) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Armenian: ալիքի երկարություն (alikʻi erkarutʻyun) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Asturian: llonxitú d'onda — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Azerbaijani: dalğa uzunluğu — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Basque: uhin-luzera — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Belarusian: даўжыня́ хва́лі (dawžynjá xváli) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Bengali: তরঙ্গ দৈর্ঘ্য (toroṅgo dōirggho) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Breton: hirder gwagenn — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Bulgarian: дължина́ на вълна́та (dǎlžiná na vǎlnáta) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Catalan: longitud d'ona — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Chinese Mandarin: 波長 /波长 (bōcháng) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Czech: vlnová délka — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Danish: bølgelængde — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Dutch: golflengte — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Esperanto: ondolongo — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Estonian: lainepikkus — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Finnish: aallonpituus — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • French: longueur d'onde — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • West-Frisian: weachlingte — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Galician: lonxitude de onda — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Georgian: ტალღის სიგრძე (ṭalɣis sigrʒe) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • German: Wellenlänge — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Greek: μήκος κύματος (míkos kýmatos) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Gujarati: તરંગલંબાઈ (taraṅglambāī) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Haitian Creole: longèdonn — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Hebrew: אורך גל — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Hebrew: אֹרֶךְ גַּל (órekh gal) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Hindi: तरंगदैर्घ्य (taraṅgdairghya) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Hungarian: hullámhossz — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Icelandic: bylgjulengd — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Indonesian: panjang gelombang — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Irish: tonnfhad — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Italian: lunghezza d'onda — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Japanese: 波長 (hachō) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Kazakh: толқын ұзындығы (tolqyn ūzyndyğy) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Khmer: ជំហានរលក (cumhiən rɔɔrɔlɔɔk) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Khmer: ប្រវែងរលក (prɑɑvaeng rɔɔrɔlɔɔk) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Korean: 파장 (pajang) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Northern Kurdish: dirêjiya pêlê — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Northern Kurdish: pêldirêjahî — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Lao: ຄວາມຍາວຄື້ນ (khuā ma nyāo khư̄n) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Latvian: viļņa garums — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Lithuanian: bangos ilgis — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Luxembourgish: Wellelängt — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Macedonian: бра́нова до́лжина (bránova dólžina) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Malay: panjang gelombang — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Malayalam: തരംഗദൈർഘ്യം (taraṅgadaiṟghyaṁ) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Māori: roangaru — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Marathi: तरंगलांबी (taraṅglāmbī) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Mongolian: долгионы урт (dolgiony urt) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Norwegian Bokmål: bølgelengde — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: bølgjelengd — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: bylgjelengd — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: bølgelengd — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: bølgelengde — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Occitan: longor d'onda — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Oromo: dambalii — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Pannonian Rusyn: габова длужина (habova dlužina) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Persian: طول موج (tul-e mowj) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Polish: długość fali — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Portuguese: comprimento de onda — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Punjabi: لہر لمبائی (lhr lmbā'ī) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Romanian: lungime de undă — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Russian: длина́ волны́ (dliná volný) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Russian: волна́ (volná) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Scottish Gaelic: tonn-fhad — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Serbo-Croatian: valna duljina — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Serbo-Croatian: talasna duljina — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Sinhalese: තරංග ආයාමය (taraṁga āyāmaya) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Slovak: vlnová dĺžka — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Slovene: valovna dolžina — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Southern Altai: опкын (opkïn) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Spanish: longitud de onda — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Spanish: largor de ondo — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Spanish: largura de onda — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Spanish: largueza de onda — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Swedish: våglängd — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Tagalog: habang-alon — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Tagalog: libuyhaba (electromagnetic) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Tajik: адади мавҷӣ (adad-i mavji) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Tamil: அலைநீளம் (alainīḷam) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Telugu: తరంగదైర్ఘ్యము (taraṅgadairghyamu) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Thai: ความยาวคลื่น (kwaam-yaao-klʉ̂ʉn) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Turkish: dalga boyu — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Ukrainian: довжина́ хви́лі (dovžyná xvýli) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Urdu: طولِ موج (tol-i moj) — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Uzbek: toʻlqin uzunligi — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Vietnamese: bước sóng — the length of a single cycle of a wave
  • Welsh: tonfedd — the length of a single cycle of a wave
Real reading context

wavelength in complete knowledge articles