acoustic figures

Sonorous So*no"rous, a. [L. sonorus, fr. sonor, -oris, a sound, akin to sonus a sound. See {Sound}.] 1. Giving sound when struck; resonant; as, sonorous metals. [1913 Webster]

2. Loud-sounding; giving a clear or loud sound; as, a sonorous voice. [1913 Webster]

3. Yielding sound; characterized by sound; vocal; sonant; as, the vowels are sonorous. [1913 Webster]

4. Impressive in sound; high-sounding. [1913 Webster]

The Italian opera, amidst all the meanness and familiarty of the thoughts, has something beautiful and sonorous in the expression. --Addison. [1913 Webster]

There is nothing of the artificial Johnsonian balance in his style. It is as often marked by a pregnant brevity as by a sonorous amplitude. --E. Everett. [1913 Webster]

5. (Med.) Sonant; vibrant; hence, of sounds produced in a cavity, deep-toned; as, sonorous rhonchi. [1913 Webster]

{Sonorous figures} (Physics), figures formed by the vibrations of a substance capable of emitting a musical tone, as when the bow of a violin is drawn along the edge of a piece of glass or metal on which sand is strewed, and the sand arranges itself in figures according to the musical tone. Called also {acoustic figures}.

{Sonorous tumor} (Med.), a tumor which emits a clear, resonant sound on percussion. [1913 Webster] -- {So*no"rous*ly}, adv. -- {So*no"rous*ness}, n. [1913 Webster]