noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The length of a single cycle of a wave, as measured by the distance between one peak or trough of a wave and the next; it is often designated in physics as λ, and corresponds to the velocity of the wave divided by its frequency.

   "I'd take requests on the telephone / I'm on a wavelength far from home"

2. 2
   the distance (measured in the direction of propagation) between two points in the same phase in consecutive cycles of a wave wordnet
3. 3
   A person's attitude and way of thinking as compared to another person's. figuratively

   "I think you and I are on a different wavelength."

4. 4
   a shared orientation leading to mutual understanding wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

amplitudeantinodecarriercarrier wavecommunicatecrest

Example

More examples

"What Jansky had observed was the 14.6m wavelength radio wave from the Milky Way's core."

Etymology

From wave + length.

Related phrases

de Broglie wavelengthmedium-wavelength infrared radiationon the same wavelengthquarter-wavelength filmthree-wavelengthtwo-wavelengthon same wavelength

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.