audio

audio — adjective

1. used for equipment, files, or signals that carry sound you can hear, rather than

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

used for equipment, files, or signals that carry sound you can hear, rather than pictures or printed words

Example

The teacher sent an audio file so sick students could hear the lesson.

audio file

We checked the audio settings before the school concert started.

audio settings

Common collocations
  • audio file
  • audio signal
  • audio settings
  • audio guide
  • audio cable
Synonyms
  • sound

    the plain everyday word, but it is broader and less technical.

  • aural

    more formal and often used in education or medicine.

  • acoustic

    often relates to natural sound, music, or the way sound behaves in a space.

Antonyms
  • visual

    concerns what you see rather than what you hear.

  • written

    focuses on printed or typed words instead of sound.

Grammar Patterns

audio file

audio signal

audio settings

audio guide

Usage Note

Usually comes before nouns such as file, guide, cable, signal, or settings. Distinguish from the noun sense: an audio file uses the adjective, but play the audio uses the noun for the sound itself.

audio — noun

audio — prefix

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For noun sense 1, audio is common in technology and media when you mean the sound part of something, such as a video, phone call, app, or file. Sound is the broader everyday word and can mean any noise you hear, not only recorded or transmitted material. Soundtrack is narrower: it usually means the recorded sound, especially music, from a film, series, or game. Recording can mean the whole thing that was captured, so it may refer to audio or video, not just the sound layer. In a video call, you say We lost the audio, not We lost the soundtrack. For a movie album, you buy the soundtrack, not just the audio.

audio ↗sound ↗soundtrack ↗recording ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • audio file
  • audio signal
  • audio quality
  • audio guide

Phrases

  • play the audio
  • turn the audio up
  • lose audio on a call
  • audio and video

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Audio comes from the Latin verb audire, meaning to hear. English first used it in technical and broadcasting contexts for sound, then expanded it into everyday words for files, settings, recordings, and media products that people listen to.