vibration
nounUS /vaɪˈbɹeɪʃən/
Etymology From French vibration, from Latin vibrātiō (“a shaking or brandishing”), from vibrō (“shake, vibrate”); see vibrate. Morphologically vibrate + -ion.
1
The act of vibrating or the condition of being vibrated.
- You will see a tiny flutter, a shiver, a vibration along the luff. That flutter is your friend.2026, S. Williams, Sailing Basics (Points of Sail, Trimming): Harnessing Wind, NFT Publishing:
2
Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics Any periodic process, especially a rapid linear motion of a body about an equilibrium position.
3
A single complete vibrating motion.
- The moon, which had been slowly ascending, now shone through an open space between the trees; and the rippling waters of the brook gave back her light in luminous vibrations.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 21:
4
Parapsychology, Pseudoscience A vibrational energy of spiritual nature through which mediumistic and other paranormal phenomena are conveyed or affected.
- "And the sitters?" "I expect Professor Challenger may wish to bring a friend or two of his own." "They will form a horrible block of vibrations! We must have some of our own sympathetic people to counteract it."1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
- "Witches feel that anyone who is against them has to be destroyed. The method is to give the victim what we call a whispering. It is similar to the aborigine ceremony in Australia of singing someone to death. The witches gather in a circle and focus their hate on the persons they have in mind. These vibrations from their minds and voices carry whispers to the one who they are working against."1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 66:
5
Broadly, In plural, Often, Slang An instinctively sensed emotional aura or atmosphere.
- I'm pickin' up good vibrations / She's giving me the excitations.1966, Mike Love, Brian Wilson, “Good Vibrations”, performed by The Beach Boys:
- The procession circled the district, symbolically purging the area of its “evil,” which paraders described as the “bad vibrations” from tourists and youths in Hippie clothes not living up to Hippie standards.1967 October 7, “Parade in Haight-Ashbury Marks ‘Death of the Hippie’”, in New York Times, page 26:
1 more example
- Could it be she's just friendly / And that's nothing to get all excited about / On the other hand she could be answering / The good vibrations I'm sendin' out1974, Ashford & Simpson, “Ain't Nothin' But A Maybe”, in I Wanna Be Selfish:
- Derived terms
- hand-arm vibration syndrome, phantom vibration syndrome, sympathetic vibration, vibration control, vibration white finger
- Related terms
- vibrant, vibrate, vibratiuncle, vibrato, vibrator