audio-, aud-, audi-, audit- +
(Latin: hearing, listening, perception of sounds)
A method of watching or studying the motor responses of babies, less than 6 months old, to test sound intensities to determine the hearing threshold: A bahvioral obersvartion audiometry is a type of hearing measurement to test an infant's ability to recognize pitch, volume, etc.
The perceived power to hear sounds said to exist beyond the reach of ordinary experiences or normal abilities: The fortune teller, or clairvoyant, claimed that she could hear the voice of Jim's departed father and that her clairaudience included his best wishes for Jim and his family.
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Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
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clairaudient (adjective) (not comparable)
Descriptive of the supposed powers that someone has to hear things beyond the range of physical perceptions: Jerry said that his sister had clairaudient abilities to get into contact with their dead grandfather.
The person who has the power to hear sounds not actually present: Ruth's neighbor was known to be a clairaudient who could get in touch with various spirits and communicate with them.
clairaudiently (adverb), more clairaudiently, most clairaudiently
A reference to how a person hears or perceives something that is not present to the physical ears: Natasha recognized clairaudiently the voice of her husband who had passed away the year before.
Complurium thriorium ego strepitum audivi. (Latin motto)
"I have heard the wind in the fig trees."
Motto of Emperor Frederick II of Germany (1215-1250). His motto is said to have denoted the emperor's longing for Sicily. He was Italian by taste and training and had little of the German about him.
A testing of hearing ability by frequencies and various levels of loudness by the way of an audiometer: A cortical audiometry refers to the the measurement of the potentials that arise in response to acoustic stimuli in the auditory system above the level of the brainstem.
The measurement of hearing threshold levels and other parameters: A diagnostic audiometry is used to determine the nature of conductive, sensory, neural, or mixed degrees of hearing impairment.
Refusal or failure to obey; refusal to comply: Mrs. Smart, Jack's teacher, told his mother at the parent-teacher conference day that her child had a tendency towards disobedience by hitting other children during the breaks, although he was told not to.
disobedient (adjective), more disobedient, most disobedient
Referring to a person not obeying or complying with commands of those in authority: Joy, the new girl in class, turned out to be quite disobedient by behaving very badly towards her peers and failing to do what the teacher told her to do.
disobediently (adverb), more disobediently, most disobediently
Referring to how something is done in a defiant or contrary manner: Although little Mary was told to stay in the house, she disobediently sneaked out to jump in the puddles in the backyard while it was raining.
disobey (verb), disobeys; disobeyed; disobeying
1. To refuse, or to fail, to obey a rule, instruction, or authority: Kitty's mother told her to please wash the dishes while she was out shopping, but Kitty disobeyed and went outside to play instead.
2. Etymology: from Old French desobeir (13th century), reformed with dis- from Late Latin inobedire, a back-formation from inobediens, "not obeying"; from Latin in-, "not" + oboedire, "to obey, to pay attention to, to give ear to"; literally, "listen to" from ob-, "to" + audire, "to listen, to hear".
2. Etymology: from Old French desobeir (13th century), reformed with dis- from Late Latin inobedire, a back-formation from inobediens, "not obeying"; from Latin in-, "not" + oboedire, "to obey, to pay attention to, to give ear to"; literally, "listen to" from ob-, "to" + audire, "to listen, to hear".
An imperfect articulation originating from an auditory disorder: Mrs. Robinson suffered from dysaudia in which she wasn't able to speak certain words correctly because of a bad ear infection she had had as a child and of her difficulty in hearing others correctly.
exaudible (adjective), more exaudible, most exaudible
Referring to something that is easily heard: Jane whispered to her boyfriend in a distinctly exaudible voice so that he could understand her words, but the others in the room couldn't hear her.
An old term for the action of hearing effectually; hearkening: In the book she was reading, the old soothsayer reminded his visitor that the only way to understand what was being said was by exaudition and to listen attentively.