sonar
UK /ˈsəʊ.nɑː/ · US /ˈsoʊ.nɑːɹ/ noun
Forms sonars
- noun (nautical, usually uncountable) Artificial echolocation by use of electronic equipment, with hydrophones to locate objects underwater, using the same wave-analysis principles that radar uses. “They were able to detect the sunken wreck using sonar.”
- noun (nautical, countable) A device that provides such echolocation. “They finally bought a new sonar to replace the 40-year-old unit that sometimes didn't work right.”
- noun (loosely) Any echolocation. “Submarines and bats both use sonar to navigate.”
Synonyms
Etymology
By anacronymic evolution from SONAR.
Acronym of sound navigation and ranging. Coined by American scientist Frederick Vinton Hunt in the 1940s, roughly contemporaneously with radar. The lowercase form (sonar) is by anacronymic evolution.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “sonar”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details