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sonar
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English
Alternative forms
- SONAR (dated)
Etymology
By anacronymic evolution from SONAR.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsoʊ.nɑːɹ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsəʊ.nɑː/
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
sonar (countable and uncountable, plural sonars)
- (nautical, usually uncountable) Artificial echolocation by use of electronic equipment, with hydrophones to locate objects underwater, using the same wave-analysis principles that radar uses.
- Synonym: ASDIC (historical)
- Hypernym: imaging
- Hyponyms: Doppler sonar, active sonar
- Coordinate terms: sodar (uses sound waves in the air), radar (uses radio waves), lidar (uses light waves); ultrasonography (uses sound waves)
- They were able to detect the sunken wreck using sonar.
- (nautical, countable) A device that provides such echolocation.
- Hypernym: device
- Hyponyms: Doppler sonar, active sonar
- They finally bought a new sonar to replace the 40-year-old unit that sometimes didn't work right.
- (loosely) Any echolocation.
- Hyponyms: biosonar, Doppler sonar, active sonar
- Submarines and bats both use sonar to navigate.
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
device
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Anagrams
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Catalan
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old Catalan sonar, from Latin sonāre.
Pronunciation
Verb
sonar (first-person singular present sono, first-person singular preterite soní, past participle sonat); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /ɔ/
- (intransitive) to sound, to make a sound
- (intransitive) to ring, to buzz
- (figurative, intransitive) to ring a bell
- Em sona la seva cara. ― His face looks familiar.
Conjugation
Related terms
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
Noun
sonar m (uncountable)
References
- “sonar”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
- “sonar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
- “sonar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “sonar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
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Dutch
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
sonar m (plural sonars, no diminutive)
Derived terms
French
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
sonar m (plural sonars)
Descendants
Further reading
- “sonar”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Icelandic
Noun
sonar
Ido
Etymology
From Esperanto soni (“to sound”), French sonner, Italian suonare, Spanish sonar, ultimately from Latin sonō (“to make a noise”).
Verb
sonar (present tense sonas, past tense sonis, future tense sonos, imperative sonez, conditional sonus)
- to ring
Conjugation
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Occitan
Pronunciation
Verb
sonar
Conjugation
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Old Norse
Noun
sonar
Polish
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
sonar m inan
Declension
Declension of sonar
Further reading
- sonar in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese
Etymology
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: so‧nar
Noun
sonar m (plural sonares)
Further reading
- “sonar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
- “sonar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025
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Romanian
Etymology
Noun
sonar n (plural sonare)
Declension
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
sònār m inan (Cyrillic spelling со̀на̄р)
Declension
Spanish
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old Spanish sonar, inherited from Latin sonāre, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- (“to sound, resound”).
Verb
sonar (first-person singular present sueno, first-person singular preterite soné, past participle sonado)
- (intransitive) to sound, to ring
- 2014, “Suena La Alarma”, performed by Daddy Yankee:
- Suena la alarma, que mi nena esta robándose el show / Oh síguelo
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- (intransitive) to sound (appear)
- Suena como que ya te has decidido.
- It sounds like your mind is made up.
- Suena como si no tuviéramos otra opción.
- It sounds like we don't have any other choice.
- (figuratively, intransitive) to ring a bell, to be familiar
- Me suena el nombre, pero no lo ubico.
- His name rings a bell but I can't place him.
- (transitive) to make sound, to play
- Synonym: tocar
- sonar la bocina ― to sound the horn
- (transitive, reflexive) to blow one's nose
- Despues de estornudar, me soné la nariz.
- After I sneezed, I blew my nose.
Conjugation
These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.
Derived terms
Related terms
Etymology 2
Noun
sonar m (plural sonares)
- sonar (a device that uses hydrophones to locate objects underwater)
Alternative forms
Further reading
- “sonar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
Swedish
Noun
sonar c
Declension
Verb
sonar
References
Anagrams
Venetan
Etymology
Verb
sonar
- (transitive) to play, sound
Conjugation
* Venetan conjugation varies from one region to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of sonar (first conjugation)
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