decibel

See also: décibel

English

Etymology

From deci- + bel.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛsɪbɛl/, /ˈdɛsɪbəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

decibel (plural decibels)

1. A common measure of intensity ratio (e.g. for sound) that is one tenth of a bel on the logarithmic intensity scale. It is defined as dB = 10 log₁₀(P₁ / P₂), where P₁ and P₂ are the relative intensities.

Derived terms

• megadecibel
• subdecibel

Translations

a common measure of relative intensity

• Asturian: decibeliu m
• Catalan: decibel m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 分貝 / 分贝 (zh) (fēnbèi)

• Czech: decibel (cs) m
• Danish: decibel c
• Dutch: decibel (nl) m
• Finnish: desibeli (fi)
• French: décibel (fr) m
• Galician: decibel m, decibelio m
• German: Dezibel (de) n
• Greek: ντεσιμπέλ (el) n (ntesimpél)
• Hawaiian: ikakani
• Hungarian: decibel (hu)
• Icelandic: desibel (is) n
• Italian: decibel (it) m
• Japanese: デシベル (ja) (deshiberu)
• Korean: 데시벨 (desibel)
• Latvian: decibels m
• Lithuanian: decibelas m
• Malay: desibel
• Māori: wae paoro
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: decibel

• Polish: decybel (pl) m
• Portuguese: decibel (pt) m
• Romanian: decibel (ro) m
• Russian: децибе́л (ru) m (decibél)
• Spanish: decibelio (es) m
• Swedish: decibel (sv) n
• Turkish: desibel (tr)

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈdɛt͡sɪbɛl]

Noun

decibel m inan

1. decibel (unit of sound intensity ratio)

Declension

Declension of decibel (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	decibel	decibely
genitive	decibelu	decibelů
dative	decibelu	decibelům
accusative	decibel	decibely
vocative	decibele	decibely
locative	decibelu	decibelech
instrumental	decibelem	decibely

Further reading

• “decibel”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “decibel”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English decibel. Equivalent to deci- +‎ bel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdeːsiˌbɛl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: de‧ci‧bel

Noun

decibel m (plural decibels, diminutive decibeltje n)

1. decibel

Descendants

• → Papiamentu: desibèl

Hungarian

Etymology

Either deci- +‎ bel or internationalism.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈdɛt͡sibɛl]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: de‧ci‧bel
• Rhymes: -ɛl

Noun

decibel (plural decibelek)

1. decibel (a common measure of sound intensity ratio, symbol: dB)

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	decibel	decibelek
accusative	decibelt	decibeleket
dative	decibelnek	decibeleknek
instrumental	decibellel	decibelekkel
causal-final	decibelért	decibelekért
translative	decibellé	decibelekké
terminative	decibelig	decibelekig
essive-formal	decibelként	decibelekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	decibelben	decibelekben
superessive	decibelen	decibeleken
adessive	decibelnél	decibeleknél
illative	decibelbe	decibelekbe
sublative	decibelre	decibelekre
allative	decibelhez	decibelekhez
elative	decibelből	decibelekből
delative	decibelről	decibelekről
ablative	decibeltől	decibelektől
non-attributive possessive – singular	decibelé	decibeleké
non-attributive possessive – plural	decibeléi	decibelekéi

Possessive forms of decibel

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	decibelem	decibeljeim
2nd person sing.	decibeled	decibeljeid
3rd person sing.	decibelje	decibeljei
1st person plural	decibelünk	decibeljeink
2nd person plural	decibeletek	decibeljeitek
3rd person plural	decibeljük	decibeljeik

Derived terms

• decibeles
• decibelnyi

Further reading

• decibel in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2026).

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English decibel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛ.t͡ʃi.bel/, (traditional) /de.t͡ʃiˈbɛl/
• Rhymes: -ɛtʃibel, (traditional) -ɛl
• Hyphenation: dè‧ci‧bel, (traditional) de‧ci‧bèl

Noun

decibel m (invariable)

1. decibel

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /de.siˈbɛw/ [de.siˈbɛʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɛ.siˈbɛl/ [dɛ.siˈβɛɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɛ.siˈbɛl/ [dɛ.siˈβɛɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɛ.siˈbɛ.li/ [dɛ.siˈβɛ.li]

• Hyphenation: de‧ci‧bel

Noun

decibel m (plural decibéis)

1. decibel (a common measure of sound intensity)

Further reading

• “decibel”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “decibel”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French décibel.

Noun

decibel m (plural decibeli)

1. decibel

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	decibel	decibelul	decibeli	decibelii
genitive-dative	decibel	decibelului	decibeli	decibelilor
vocative	decibelule		decibelilor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English decibel, equivalent to deci- +‎ bel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deθiˈbel/ [d̪e.θiˈβ̞el] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /desiˈbel/ [d̪e.siˈβ̞el] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: de‧ci‧bel

Noun

decibel m (plural decibeles)

1. alternative form of decibelio

Further reading

• “decibel”, 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