1. The act of resounding; the quality or state of being resonant.

2. <physics> A prolongation or increase of any sound, eithar by reflection, as in a cavern or apartment the walls of which are not distant enough to return a distinct echo, or by the production of vibrations in other bodies, as a sounding-board, or the bodies of musical instruments.

3. <respiratory medicine, physiology> Pulmonary resonance, the sound transmitted to the ear when auscultation is made while the patient is speaking.

Origin: Cf. F. Resonance, L. Resonantia an echo.

(01 Mar 1998)