echo

echo
echoer, n.echoless, adj.
/ek"oh/, n., pl. echoes, v., echoed, echoing.
n.
1. a repetition of sound produced by the reflection of sound waves from a wall, mountain, or other obstructing surface.
2. a sound heard again near its source after being reflected.
3. any repetition or close imitation, as of the ideas or opinions of another.
4. a person who reflects or imitates another.
5. a sympathetic or identical response, as to sentiments expressed.
6. a lingering trace or effect.
7. (cap.) Class. Myth. a mountain nymph who pined away for love of the beautiful youth Narcissus until only her voice remained.
8. Cards. the play of a high card and then a low card in the suit led by one's partner as a signal to continue leading the suit, as in bridge, or to lead a trump, as in whist.
9. Electronics. the reflection of a radio wave, as in radar or the like.
10. (cap.) U.S. Aerospace. one of an early series of inflatable passive communications satellites.
11. a word used in communications to represent the letter E.
v.i.
12. to emit an echo; resound with an echo: The hall echoed with cheers.
13. to be repeated by or as by an echo: Shouts echoed through the street.
v.t.
14. to repeat by or as by an echo; emit an echo of: The hall echoes the faintest sounds.
15. to repeat or imitate the words, sentiments, etc., of (a person).
16. to repeat or imitate (words, sentiments, etc.).
[1300-50; ME ecco < L echo < Gk, akin to eché sound]
Syn. 12, 13. ring, reverberate.

* * *

In Greek mythology, a mountain nymph transformed into a disembodied voice.

According to Ovid, her chatter distracted Hera from the infidelities of Zeus, and the goddess punished her by depriving her of independent speech, rendering her able only to repeat the last words spoken by another. When Narcissus failed to requite her love, she faded away into a voice only.

* * *

      in Greek mythology, a mountain nymph, or oread. Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book III, relates that Echo offended the goddess Hera by keeping her in conversation, thus preventing her from spying on one of Zeus' amours. To punish Echo, Hera deprived her of speech, except for the ability to repeat the last words of another. Echo's hopeless love for Narcissus, who fell in love with his own image, made her fade away until all that was left of her was her voice.

      According to the Greek writer Longus, Echo rejected the advances of the god Pan; he thereupon drove the shepherds mad, and they tore her to pieces. Gaea (Earth) buried her limbs but allowed her to retain the power of song.

      either of two experimental communications satellites launched into orbit around the Earth by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the 1960s. Consisting of aluminum-coated Mylar balloons that were inflated after launching, the Echo satellites were passive instruments—i.e., they simply reflected radio waves back to Earth rather than actively receiving, amplifying, and retransmitting them. Nevertheless, by proving the concept of relaying radio signals through space, and by demonstrating the effectiveness of current satellite-tracking and other ground-station technologies, they stimulated a great deal of interest in the development of active satellite communication.

      Echo 1, launched on Aug. 12, 1960, inflated to a diameter of 100 feet (30 m). The satellite was placed in an almost circular orbit at an altitude of approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km). At this height it circled the Earth every two hours. The first transmissions reflected off its surface were conducted between a terminal built by Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, N.J., and another terminal built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Goldstone, Calif. Echo 1 was used for experimental telephone, data, and facsimile transmissions. Signals were detected in Europe, although no messages were transmitted across the ocean. The satellite remained in orbit for almost eight years and was visible as a rapidly moving “star” in the evening skies.

      Echo 2, launched on Jan. 25, 1964, was 135 feet (about 40 m) in diameter. Its purpose largely was one of testing the dynamics of larger spacecraft, though it also was the focus of the first space venture involving cooperation between the U.S.S.R. and the United States. A radio signal transmitted from the Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Manchester, Eng., was reflected off Echo 2 and received at the Zimenki Observatory, near Gorky, Russia, U.S.S.R. (now Nizhny Novgorod, Russia). The satellite remained in orbit for five years.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • écho — écho …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • Echo — Echo …   Deutsch Wörterbuch

  • écho — [ eko ] n. m. • XIIIe; lat. echo, gr. êkhô 1 ♦ Phénomène de réflexion du son par un obstacle qui le répercute; le son ainsi répété. Effet d écho. Il y a de l écho dans cette église. ⇒ réverbération. Écho simple, qui ne reproduit les sons qu une… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Echo — Écho Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom.  Pour les articles homophones, voir écot et eco …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Echo 1 — (eigentlich Echo 1A) ist der Name eines großen Ballonsatelliten der USA, der am 12. August 1960 als erster Nachrichten und geodätischer Satellit gestartet wurde. Seine internationale COSPAR Nummer war 60 009 01 (9. Start des Jahres …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Echo 1A — Echo 1 Echo 1 (eigentlich Echo 1A) ist der Name eines großen Ballonsatelliten der USA, der am 12. August 1960 als erster Nachrichten und geodätischer Satellit gestartet wurde. Seine internationale COSPAR Nummer war 60 009 01 (9. Start des Jahres… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • echo — (от англ. echo эхо) команда Unix, предназначенная для отображения строки текста. Команда echo выводит текст (выводит текст на стандартное устройство вывода). Синтаксис echo [ПАРАМЕТР]... [СТРОКА]... Параметры n не выводить в конце символ… …   Википедия

  • Echo — Ech o ([e^]k [ o]), n.; pl. {Echoes} ([e^]k [=o]z). [L. echo, Gr. hchw echo, sound, akin to hchh , h^chos, sound, noise; cf. Skr. v[=a][,c] to sound, bellow; perh. akin to E. voice: cf. F. [ e]cho.] 1. A sound reflected from an opposing surface… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Echo — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Echo puede referirse a: Echo (computación), un concepto informático. Toyota Echo, un modelo de automóvil de la marca Toyota. ECHO (premio), un premio musical. Echo and the Bunnymen, un grupo musical británico. Echo… …   Wikipedia Español

  • ECHO — ECHO  хеш функция, выдвинутая как кандидат на конкурс SHA 3, проводимый Национальным институтом стандартов и технологий (США). Алгоритм разработан в Orange Labs, его авторы: Ryad Benadjila Olivier Billet Henri Gilbert Gilles Macario Rat… …   Википедия

  • écho — ÉCHO. s. m. (Prononcez Éco.) Les Poëtes ont feint une Nymphe de ce nom, fille de l Air, qui étant devenue amoureuse de Narcisse, dont elle ne put se faire aimer, fut métamorphosée en rocher, et ne conserva que la voix. Ce mot est féminin en ce… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”