Link Centre Dictionary

surd

UK/sʌɹd/ US/sɜːd/ uncommon obsolete
adjective (1) noun (1)

adjective

1.

of speech sounds

Synonyms
Antonyms

noun

1.

a consonant produced without sound from the vocal cords

Synonyms

Origin

First attested in the mid 16th century from Latin surdus (“deaf, mute”), used in mathematics for “irrational,” reflecting ἄλογος (álogos, “irrational, speechless”) as found in Euclid, apparently transmitted via Arabic جِذْر أَصَمّ (jiḏr ʔaṣamm, “deaf root”). The phonetic sense, “voiceless,” emerged in the 18th century. Doublet of surdo.

Phrases

  • quadratic surd

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.