frequency

English

Alternative forms

• frequence (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin frequentia, from frequens. English equivalent frequent +‎ -cy.

Pronunciation

• enPR: frĕʹkwən-sē, IPA^(key): /ˈfɹiːkwənsi/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

frequency (countable and uncountable, plural frequencies)

1. (uncountable or countable) The rate of occurrence of anything; the relationship between incidence and time period.

   With growing confidence, the Viking’s raids increased in frequency.

   The frequency of bus service has been improved from one every 15 to one every 12 minutes.

2. (uncountable) The property of occurring often rather than infrequently.

   The FAQ addresses questions that come up with some frequency.

   The frequency of the visits was what annoyed him.

3. (countable) The quotient of the number of times $n$ a periodic phenomenon occurs over the time $t$ in which it occurs: $f=n/t$.

   The frequency of the musical note A above middle C is 440 oscillations per second.

   The frequency of a wave is its velocity $v$ divided by its wavelength $\lambda$: $f=v/\lambda$.

   Broadcasting live at a frequency of 98.3 megahertz, we’re your rock alternative!

   The frequency for electric power in the Americas is generally 60 Hz rather than 50.

4. (statistics) number of times an event occurred in an experiment (absolute frequency)

Synonyms

• (rate of occurrence): oftenness; see also Thesaurus:commonness and Thesaurus:frequency
• freq

Antonyms

• (rate of occurrence): period

Derived terms

• angular frequency
• audio frequency
• dual-frequency
• extremely low frequency
• frequency assignment
• frequency channel
• frequency distribution
• frequency list
• frequency modulation
• frequency multiplier
• frequency-shift keying
• frequency shift keying
• fundamental frequency
• high frequency
• high-frequency
• high frequency gravitational wave
• high-frequency gravitational wave
• high-frequency trading
• intermediate frequency
• low-frequency
• maximum usable frequency
• Planck angular frequency
• Planck frequency
• radio-frequency
• radio frequency
• radio-frequency identification
• radio frequency integrated circuit
• relative frequency
• super high frequency
• ultra high frequency
• ultra low frequency
• very high frequency

 

Related terms

• frequent
• frequentative
• frequenter

Translations

rate of occurrence of anything

• Arabic: تَرَدُّد‎ (ar) m (taraddud)
• Aragonese: freqüencia f
• Armenian: հաճախականություն (hy) (hačaxakanutʿyun)
• Azerbaijani: tezlik
• Belarusian: частата́ f (častatá), ча́стасць f (částascʹ)
• Bulgarian: честота́ (bg) f (čestotá)
• Burmese: အကြိမ် (my) (a.krim)
• Catalan: freqüència (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 頻率／频率 (zh) (pínlǜ), 頻度／频度 (zh) (píndù), 次數／次数 (zh) (cìshù)

• Czech: četnost n, frekvence (cs) f
• Danish: hyppighed (da) c
• Dutch: frequentie (nl) f
• Esperanto: ofto
• Faroese: tíðføri n, tíðleiki m, tídd f
• Finnish: taajuus (fi), (statistical) frekvenssi (fi)
• French: fréquence (fr) f
• Galician: frecuencia (gl) f
• Georgian: სიხშირე (sixšire)
• German: Häufigkeit (de) f, Frequenz (de) f, Regelmäßigkeit (de) f
• Greek: συχνότητα (el) f (sychnótita)
• Hebrew: תדירות‎ (he) f (tedirút)
• Hindi: आवृत्ति (hi) f (āvŕtti)
• Hungarian: gyakoriság (hu), ismétlődés (hu)
• Icelandic: tíðni (is) f
• Indonesian: frekuensi (id)
• Italian: frequenza (it) f
• Japanese: 頻度 (ja) (ひんど, hindo)
• Kazakh: жиілік (jiılık)
• Korean: 빈도 (ko) (bindo)
• Kyrgyz: жыштык (ky) (jıştık)
• Lao: ຄວາມຖີ່ (lo) (khuām thī)
• Latin: crēbritās f
• Macedonian: че́стота f (čéstota)
• Malay: kekerapan (ms), frekuensi (ms)
• Maori: auautanga
• Marathi: वारंवारता f (vārauvārtā)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hyppighet (no) m or f

• Persian: بسامد‎ (fa) (basâmad)
• Polish: częstość (pl) f, częstotliwość (pl) f
• Portuguese: frequência (pt) f
• Romanian: frecvență (ro) f
• Russian: частота́ (ru) f (častotá)
• Scottish Gaelic: bitheantas m, tricead m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: učestalost (sh) f, čestoća f, čestost (sh) f, učestanost

• Slovak: frekvencia (sk) f, početnosť f
• Slovene: pogostost f
• Spanish: frecuencia (es) f
• Swedish: frekvens (sv)
• Tagalog: dalas
• Tajik: басомад (basomad)
• Thai: ความถี่ (th) (kwaam-tìi)
• Turkish: frekans (tr)
• Ukrainian: ча́стість f (částistʹ), частота́ (uk) f (častotá)
• Uzbek: tezlik (uz)
• Vietnamese: tính thường xuyên

property of occurring often rather than infrequently

• Aragonese: freqüencia f
• Armenian: հաճախություն (hy) (hačaxutʿyun)
• Belarusian: частата́ f (častatá)
• Catalan: freqüència (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 常常 (zh) (chángcháng)

• Czech: častost n, frekvence (cs) f
• Dutch: regelmaat (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: ofteco
• Faroese: tíðføri n, tíðleiki m, tídd f
• Finnish: yleisyys (fi)
• French: fréquence (fr) f
• Galician: frecuencia (gl) f
• German: Häufigkeit (de) f
• Greek: συχνότητα (el) f (sychnótita)
• Hungarian: gyakoriság (hu)
• Italian: frequenza (it)
• Macedonian: че́стота f (čéstota)
• Malay: kekerapan (ms)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hyppighet (no) m or f

• Polish: częstość (pl) f
• Portuguese: frequência (pt) f
• Romanian: desime (ro) f, frecvență (ro) f
• Scottish Gaelic: bitheantas m, tricead m
• Slovak: frekvencia (sk) f, častosť f
• Spanish: frecuencia (es) f
• Tagalog: dalas
• Thai: ความถี่ (th) (kwaam-tìi)
• Turkish: frekans (tr)
• Ukrainian: частота́ (uk) f (častotá)

The quotient of the number of times a periodic phenomenon occurs over the time in which it occurs

• Finnish: taajuus (fi)
• Indonesian: frekuensi (id)
• Maori: iarere (of radio waves etc.)

number of occurrences divided by time

• Arabic: تَرَدُّد‎ (ar) m (taraddud)
• Aragonese: freqüencia f
• Armenian: հաճախություն (hy) (hačaxutʿyun)
• Belarusian: частата́ f (častatá)
• Bengali: কম্পাঙ্ক (kompaṅko)
• Bulgarian: честота́ (bg) f (čestotá)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: freqüència (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 頻數／频数 (zh) (pínshù)

• Czech: frekvence (cs) f, kmitočet (cs) m (of radio frequency)
• Danish: frekvens (da) n
• Dutch: frequentie (nl) f
• Esperanto: frekvenco
• Faroese: tíðføri n, tíðleiki m, tídd f
• Finnish: taajuus (fi)
• French: fréquence (fr) f
• Galician: frecuencia (gl) f
• German: Frequenz (de) f
• Greek: συχνότητα (el) f (sychnótita)
• Hebrew: תדירות‎ (he) f (tedirút), תדר‎ m (téder) (used for a radio station or a two-way radio device)
• Hungarian: frekvencia (hu)
• Icelandic: tíðni (is) f
• Italian: frequenza (it) f
• Japanese: 周波数 (ja) (shūhasū)
• Khmer: ប្រេកង់ (preekɑng)
• Korean: 진동수 (ko) (jindongsu)
• Lao: ຄວາມຖີ່ (lo) (khuām thī)
• Latvian: frekvence f
• Macedonian: че́стота f (čéstota), фрекве́нција f (frekvéncija)
• Malay: frekuensi (ms)
• Norwegian: frekvens (no) m
• Persian: فرکانس‎ (fa) (ferekâns)
• Polish: częstotliwość (pl) f
• Portuguese: frequência (pt) f
• Romanian: frecvență (ro) f
• Russian: частота́ (ru) f (častotá)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: фреквѐнција f

  Roman: frekvèncija (sh) f

• Slovak: frekvencia (sk) f, kmitočet (sk) m
• Slovene: frekvenca (sl) f, pogostost f
• Spanish: frecuencia (es) f
• Swedish: frekvens (sv)
• Tagalog: dalas
• Thai: ความถี่ (th) (kwaam-tìi)
• Turkish: frekans (tr)
• Ukrainian: частота́ (uk) f (častotá)
• Uzbek: chastota (uz)
• Vietnamese: tần số (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Latin: ^{(please verify)} frequentia f
• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} dažnumas
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} frecuencia (es)
• Tamil: ^{(please verify)} அதிர்வெண் (ta) (atirveṇ)
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} పౌనఃపున్యము (te) (paunaḥpunyamu)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} frekans (tr)

See also

• cadence
• commonness
• occurrence
• periodicity

Further reading

• Frequency (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “frequency”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “frequency”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• frequency at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• quefrency