frequency

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin frequentia, from frequens.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

frequency (plural frequencies)

1. (uncountable) 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 15 to 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
• freq

Antonyms

• (rate of occurrence): period

Related terms

• frequent
• frequentative
• frequenter

Translations

rate of occurrence of anything

• Arabic: تَرَدُّد (ar) m (taraddud)
• Aragonese: freqüencia f
• Armenian: հաճախականություն (hy) (hačaxakanutʻyun)
• 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), 频率 (zh) (pínlǜ), 頻度／频度 (zh) (píndù), 频度 (zh) (píndù), 次數／次数 (zh) (cìshù), 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
• Georgian: სიხშირე (sixšire)
• German: Häufigkeit (de) f, Frequenz (de) f, Regelmäßigkeit f
• Greek: συχνότητα (el) f (sychnótita)
• Hebrew: תדירות f (tedirút)
• Hindi: आवृत्ति (hi) f (āvŕtti)
• Hungarian: gyakoriság (hu), ismétlődés
• Icelandic: tíðni (is) f
• Italian: frequenza (it) f
• Japanese: 頻度 (ja) (ひんど, hindo)
• Kazakh: жиілік (jiılık)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 빈도 (ko) (bindo)
• Kyrgyz: жыштык (ky) (jıştık)
• Lao: ຄວາມຖີ່ (lo) (khuām thī)
• Latin: crēbritās f
• Macedonian: честота f (čestota)
• Malay: kekerapan, frekuensi (ms)
• Maori: auautanga
• 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 (sh) 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) (hačaxutʻyun)
• 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
• German: Häufigkeit (de) f
• Greek: συχνότητα (el) f (sychnótita)
• Hungarian: gyakoriság (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: frequenza (it)
• Macedonian: честота f (čestota)
• Malay: kekerapan
• 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

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: iarere (of radio waves etc.)

number of occurrences divided by time

• Arabic: تَرَدُّد (ar) m (taraddud)
• Aragonese: freqüencia f
• Armenian: հաճախություն (hy) (hačaxutʻyun)
• 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), 频数 (zh) (pínshù)

• Czech: frekvence (cs) f, kmitočet (cs) m (of radio frequency)
• Danish: frekvens n
• Dutch: frequentie (nl) f
• Esperanto: frekvenco
• Faroese: tíðføri n, tíðleiki m, tídd f
• Finnish: taajuus (fi)
• French: fréquence (fr) f
• German: Frequenz (de) f
• Greek: συχνότητα (el) f (sychnótita)
• Hebrew: תדירות 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: please add this translation if you can
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 진동수 (ko) (jindongsu)
• Lao: ຄວາມຖີ່ (lo) (khuām thī)
• Latvian: frekvence f
• Macedonian: 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 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

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} frekuensi (id)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} frequentia f
• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} dažnumas
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} frecuencia (es)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• quefrency