echoic

Echoic is an adjective with more than one common use. In general English, it means relating to or resembling an echo. The term derives from the Greek ēkhōn, meaning sound or voice, and enters English through Latin and later usage, where it often describes phenomena that imitate or reproduce sound.

In psychology, echoic memory refers to the brief sensory store for auditory information. It retains sounds for a short period after they are heard, allowing a person to process or rehearse spoken input. This auditory counterpart to iconic memory helps explain how people can understand rapid speech and recover partial information from a fast sequence of sounds. Echoic memory is typically considered to decay within a few seconds if not actively attended to.

In linguistics, echoic can describe words or forms that imitate the sounds they denote, a concept closely related to onomatopoeia. Echoic words mimic natural noises, such as "buzz," "hiss," or "meow." These forms can also appear in discussions of sound symbolism and cross-linguistic onomatopoeic patterns, where the resemblance between sound and meaning is exploited for expressive or iconic effect.

Beyond these fields, the term may appear in general discussions of acoustics, music, or literature to denote echo-like qualities or effects. While the core senses of echoic revolve around imitation or re-creation of sound, the term is used across disciplines to describe both perceptual memory phenomena and language forms that resemble real-world sounds.