oscillograph

[ uh-sil-uh-graf, -grahf ]

noun

, Electricity.

1. a device for recording the wave-forms of changing currents, voltages, or any other quantity that can be translated into electric energy, as sound waves.

oscillograph

/ ɒˌsɪləˈɡræfɪk; ˌɒsɪˈlɒɡrəfɪ; ɒˈsɪləˌɡrɑːf; -ˌɡræf /

noun

1. a device for producing a graphical record of the variation of an oscillating quantity, such as an electric current

Derived Forms

• oscillographic, adjective
• oscillography, noun

Other Words From

• os·cil·lo·graph·ic [uh, -sil-, uh, -, graf, -ik], adjective
• os·cil·log·ra·phy [os-, uh, -, log, -r, uh, -fee], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of oscillograph¹

First recorded in 1870–75; oscill(ate) + -o- + -graph

Example Sentences

Mr Duddell has also perfected a wonderful instrument called an Oscillograph, for the strange purpose of making actual pictures of the rise and fall in volume of current in alternating circuits.

From Project Gutenberg

When the imitation bat sounded louder, as if it were closing in, the moth's ear responded more strongly, covering the face of the oscillograph with trains of wiggly warning lines.

From Time Magazine Archive

Working with infinite care, Roeder and Treat took a live moth, attached delicate wires to the nerves leading out of one of its ears, and connected the little insect to an amplifier and an oscillograph.

From Time Magazine Archive

From the traces on their oscillograph, the biologists could tell whether an invisible bat was approaching or flying away.

From Time Magazine Archive

This clicking, recorded on magnetic tape and analyzed with an oscillograph, proved to be short bursts of sound about 400 to the second, with only a few waves in each burst.

From Time Magazine Archive