reverberate
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reverberate¹
- /ɹɪˈvɜːbəˌɹeɪt/ UK
- /ɹəˈvɜɹbəˌɹeɪt/ US
- /ɹi-/ US
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Latin reverberātus, perfect passive participle of reverberō (“to rebound; to reflect; to repel”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), whence Middle French reverberer (French réverbérer) and Middle English reverberen (“to send back”)), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) and verberō (“to beat; to lash, whip”) (from verber (“rod; lash, whip”) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).
verb reverberates · reverberating · reverberated · reverberate
- To cause (a sound) to be (repeatedly) bounced against one or more surfaces; to re-echo. [N]o man is the Lord of any thing: / Though in and of him there be much conſiſting, / Till he communicate his parts to others, / Nor doth hee of himſelfe knovv them for aught: / Till he behold them formed in the applauſe. / VVhere th'are extended: vvho like an arch reuerb'rate / The voice againe or
- Followed by on (to): to deflect or divert (flames, heat, etc.) on to something. Flame is reverberated in a furnace.
- To heat (something) by deflecting flames on to, or passing flames over, it. Svb[tle]. […] I ſent you of his fæces there, calcin'd. / Out of that calx, I'ha'vvonne the ſalt of Mercurie. / Mam[mon]. By pouring on your rectefied vvater? / Svb. Yes, and reuerberating in Athanor.
- To repeatedly reflect (heat, light, or other radiation). Fifteen Moſques profeſſe their bravery, […] the tops dignified by many double guilded creſcents or ſpires vvhich gallantly reverberate Apollo’s yellovv flames [sunbeams] in a rich and delightfull ſplendor.
- To drive, force, or push (someone or something) back; to repel, to repulse. This banke is ſo neceſſary a defence for the Citie, that it ſerueth in ſteed of a ſtrong vvall to repulſe and reuerberate the violence of the furious vvaues of the Sea.
- To send (something) back from where it came.
- Of light or sound: to fall on or hit (a surface or other thing); also, to fill or spread throughout (a space or other thing). Hovv ſtill your voice vvith prudent diſcipline / My Prentize ear doth oft reverberate; […]
- To beat or hit (something) repeatedly.
- Of sound: to (repeatedly) bounce against one or more surfaces; to echo or re-echo, to resound. [There were] innumerable Rills and Brooks of VVater falling from the Clifts, making a barbarous and unpleaſant Sound; and that Sound eccho'd and reverberated from innumerable Cavities and Hollovvs among the Rocks, […]
- Chiefly followed by to or with: of a place or thing: to ring or vibrate with many echoing sounds; to re-echo, to resound. This Revievv is in the firſt place entituled, An Eccho from the Sixth Trumpet; becauſe, it alluſively reverberateth, and Ecchoes, as it vvere, to vvhat vvas predicted ſhould come to paſs betvveen the ſounding of the Sixth and Seventh Trumpet [referred to in the Book of Revelation.]
- Often followed by from: of heat or (less commonly) light: to be (repeatedly) reflected.
- Of information, news, etc.: to be spread widely through repetition. They vvait till ſomething nevv comes out from others, examine its merits, and reject it, or make it reverberate throughout the reſt of Europe.
- Of a thing: to have lasting and often significant effects. The shock—the shout—the groan of war— / Reverberate along that vale, / More suited to the shepherd's tale: […]
- Of a thing: to be heated by having flames, hot gases, etc., deflected or passed over it.
- To deflect or divert flames, hot gases, etc., on or into something.
- To shine on something, especially with reflected light. [Y]ou ſeem'd to reverberate upon me vvith the beams of the Sun, vvhich you knovv hath ſuch a povverful influence, and indeed too great a ſtroke in this Country: […]
- Of a thing: to (repeatedly) bounce against one or more surfaces, especially with a sound; to rebound, to recoil. A stone dropped into one of them [a chasm] reverberated against the sides for apparently a very great depth, and, by its sound, indicated the same kind of substance with the surface, as long as the strokes could be heard.
- Followed by on or upon, or to: of a thing: to return and affect a person, their feelings, etc.; to recoil. [S]he made all that one could tell her, all that one could describe, all that one could quote from a foreign author, reverberate, as it were, à plusieurs reprises [repeatedly], to one's own feelings, by the manifest impression it made upon hers.
- Followed by in and a reflexive pronoun: of a thing: to turn back on itself. A beam of light shone into the interior of a mirrored sphere would reverberate in itself.
- Of a furnace, kiln, etc.: to heat up through the effect of flames, hot gases, etc., deflecting within it.
- To heat something by deflecting flames on to, or passing flames over, it.
reverberate²
- /ɹɪˈvɜːbəɹət/ UK
- /ɹəˈvɜɹbəɹət/ US
- /ɹi-/ US
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Latin reverberātus, see Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more. etymology 2, adjective sense 2 (“ringing or vibrating with many echoing sounds”) was popularized by its use in Twelfth Night (written c. 1601–1602; published 1623) by the English playwright William Shakespeare (1564–1616): see the quotation.
adjective more reverberate · most reverberate
-
Synonym of reverberant (“that tends to reverberate (“(repeatedly) bounce against one or more surfaces”) or has reverberated”); re-echoed.
So vvith reuerberate ſhoutes our Globe ſhall ring, / The Muſicks cloſe being thus: God ſaue our King.
Similar: reverberant
- Ringing or vibrating with many echoing sounds; re-echoing, resounding, reverberating. Make me a vvillovv Cabine at your gate, / And call vpon my ſoule vvithin the houſe, / […] / Hallovv your name to the reuerberate hilles, / And make the babling Goſsip of the aire, / Cry out Oliuia: […]
Translations
Every language
verb (transitive) to cause (a sound) to be (repeatedly) bounced against one or more surfaces; (intransitive) of sound: to (repeatedly) bounce against one or more sur
| Español | reverberar |
|---|---|
| Français | réverbérer |
| Deutsch | nachdröhnen, nachhallen, nachklingen |
| Italiano | riecheggiare |
| Ελληνικά | αντηχώ antichó |
| Русский | раздава́ться razdavátʹsja |
verb of a thing: to have lasting and often significant effects
| Italiano | riverberare |
|---|
Talk about this word "reverberate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/reverberate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. reverberate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/reverberate "reverberate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/reverberate.Cite this
@misc{reverberate_2026,
title = {reverberate},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/reverberate},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
