echo

echo — noun

1. a sound that you hear a second time because it travelled to a large hard area an

1.nounB1
Definition

a sound that you hear a second time because it travelled to a large hard area and then came back to your ears

Example

Mira heard the echo of her own voice bounce back from the canyon walls.

structure: the echo of + [source]

The echo in the empty hall made the speaker's words hard to understand.

collocation: echo in + [place]

Common collocations
  • echo of footsteps
  • echo of a voice
  • hear an echo
  • send back an echo
Synonyms
  • reverberation

    more formal; describes a sound that vibrates continuously rather than repeating once

  • reflection

    broader term that includes light, heat, and radio waves, not just sound

Usage Note

Countable noun. Often used with 'of' to name the source of the reflected sound (an echo of footsteps, an echo of a voice).

Common Mistakes

I heard an echo from the wall.
I heard the echo of my voice from the wall.
the echo is a copy of a specific sound; say what the sound is.

2. a quality or detail in a person, place, or thing that makes you think of another

2.nounB2
Definition

a quality or detail in a person, place, or thing that makes you think of another person, place, or thing because of a likeness

Example

The new station's design is an echo of railway buildings from the 1920s.

structure: an echo of + [something from the past]

Ritu saw echoes of her grandmother's recipes in the dishes her mother prepared.

pattern: echoes of + [source/origin]

Common collocations
  • echoes of the past
  • an echo of [something]
  • contain echoes of [something]
Synonyms
  • trace

    suggests a weaker, smaller similarity — a trace is barely visible

  • reminder

    more general; anything that makes you remember, not necessarily a similarity in form

  • reflection

    suggests a more direct, intentional mirroring rather than a faint resemblance

Usage Note

Often used in the plural form 'echoes' when referring to multiple similarities or influences. The source of resemblance is usually introduced by 'of'.

Common Mistakes

This book is an echo of that movie.
This book contains echoes of that movie.
use 'contains echoes of' or 'is an echo of' to describe influence, not identity.

echo — verb

Word family

  • echoes
    noun (plural)B1
  • echoing
    adjectiveB2
  • echoed
    verb (past tense)B1
  • echoey
    adjectiveB2
  • echolocation
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All three words relate to sound bouncing off a surface, but they differ in scope and formality. 'Echo' (B1) is the everyday word for a distinct repeat of a sound, like hearing your voice bounce back from a cliff. 'Reverberation' (C1) is more formal and describes a prolonged, vibrating sound that continues in a space rather than a single repeat — think of a drum beat that hangs in the air. 'Resonance' (C1) is a technical term from physics for when sound is amplified because it matches a material's natural frequency, though it is also used figuratively for emotional impact. 'Reflection' (B1) is much broader and includes light, heat, radio waves, and images in a mirror — it is not limited to sound. For everyday conversation, use 'echo'; for scientific or formal writing about sound persistence, use 'reverberation'.

reverberationresonance ↗reflection ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • echo chamber
  • echo effect

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

The word 'echo' comes from the name of a mountain nymph in ancient Greek mythology. According to the story, Echo could only repeat the last words spoken by others. The name entered Latin as 'echo', then passed into French and finally into English around the 1300s. The modern scientific and figurative uses developed over the following centuries.