antenna

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English

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Antennae on a black fly.
A dish antenna.

Etymology

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From Latin antenna, antemna (“yard, sailyard; pole”). First used in this sense as a Latin word in the 15th century[1] and as an English word by the end of the 17th century.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ænˈtɛn.ə/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛnə

Noun

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antenna (plural antennae or antennas)

  2. An appendage used for sensing on the head of an insect, crab, or other animal. [from 17th c.]
    Synonym: feeler
    • 2006, Timothy Duane Schowalter, Insect Ecology: An Ecosystem Approach, →ISBN, page 22:
      The overall shape of most insect antennae is elongate and cylindrical, although elaborations into plumose, lamellate, or pectinate forms have arisen many times in different insect lineages.
    • 2009, Dan Brown, Deception Point, →ISBN, page 24:
      He put his fingers over his head like two antennas, crossed his eyes, and waggled his tongue like some kind of insect.
      In the same work, Brown uses antennae to refer to both aerials and feelers during more technical descriptions.
    • 2010, Craig S. Charron, Daliel J. Cantliffe, "Volatile emissions from plants", Horticultural Reviews, pages 43-72, →ISBN:
      The basis of these relationships lies in the olfactory chemoreceptors of insect antennas...
  4. An apparatus to receive or transmit electromagnetic waves and convert respectively to or from an electrical signal.
    Synonym: aerial
  5. (figurative) The faculty of intuitive astuteness.
    Synonyms: clairvoyance, acumen, perspicacity
    • 2006, Kelly Pyrek, Forensic Nursing, →ISBN, page 5:
      Most nurses believe they are born with an antenna of sorts, which is able to guide them through clinical practice and help them determine what is right and what is not...
    • 2010, Mary Lou Decostérd, Right Brain/Left Brain President: Barack Obama's Uncommon Leadership Ability, →ISBN, page 106:
      Obama is astute. He approaches things with the help of a sensitive antenna.
  6. (biochemistry) A fragment of an oligosaccharide
  7. (nautical) The spar to which a lateen sail is attached, which is then hoisted up the mast.
    Synonym: yard

Usage notes

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  1. For multiple feelers the Anglicised plural, antennas, is used only rarely in scholarly works in the life sciences. In other subjects and in less formal settings, antennas is found with increased frequency.
  2. For multiple aerials both plural forms are acceptable in scholarly works. The Latinate plural, antennae, is rarer in less formal settings.
    • 1908 January, Reginald Fessenden, “Wireless telephony”, in Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, volume 27, number 1, pages 553–629:
      From 1898 to 1900 numerous experiments were made on antennae of large capacity and it was found that instead of using sheets of solid metal or wire netting, single wires could be placed at a considerable fraction of the wave-length apart and yet give practically the same capacity effect as if the space between them were filled with solid conductors.
    • 1913 Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin, "A discussion on experimental tests of the radiation law for radio oscillators", Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers, volume 1, issue 1, pages 3-10, January 1913.
      When we come to the complicated forms of antennae which we use in practice to-day, it becomes excessively difficult to work out the theory mathematically.
    • 1914 Oliver Lodge, "The fifth Kelvin Lecture: the electrification of the atmosphere, natural and artificial", Journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, volume 52, issue 229, pages 333-352.
      At that time it was giving the full 50,000 volts, as measured by the needle spark-gap between the antennae and earth.
    • 1936 Edwin Howard Armstrong, "A method of reducing disturbances in radio signaling by a system of frequency modulation", Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers, volume 24, issue 5, pages 689-740, May 1936.
      If the distance between stations is such that the signal strength varies appreciably with time then the directivity of the receiving antennas must be greater than two to one.
    • 1960 October, Leonard Hatkin, “The Signal Corps' contribution to the microwave antenna art”, in IRE Transactions on Military Electronics, volume MIL-4, number 4, pages 532-536:
      ...the waggling of the signal flags...was somewhat reminiscent of the vibrations of the insect's antennas...
      Indeed, many microwave antennas were more reminiscent of optical devices than anything resembling standard radio frequency equipment.
      (In this work Hatkin uses antennas to refer to both aerials and insects.)
    • 2009, Dan Brown, Lost Symbol, →ISBN:
      Bellamy found himself squinting into the glow of what appeared to be some kind of futuristic laptop with a handheld phone receiver, two antennae, and a double keyboard.
    • 2011 G. Brodie, B.M. Ahmed, M.V. Jacob, "Detection of decay in wood using microwave characterization" 2011 Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference Proceedings, 5-8 Dec. 2011, pages 1754-1757.
      Based on results from the dielectric probe experiment, a prototype system was developed to measure microwave attenuation and phase delay between two antennae in order to detect fungal decay in wood at equilibrium moisture content.
    • 2012 V. Mishra, T. Singh, A. Alam, V. Kumar, A. Choudhary, V. Dinesh Kumar, "Design and simulation of broadband nanoantennae at optical frequencies", IET Micro & Nano Letters, volume 7, issue 1, pages 24-28, January 2012.
      Contrary to RF antennae, the length of such nanoantennae is shorter than half the operating wavelength for fundamental mode and this happens due to excitation of surface plasmons in the case of latter.
    • 2012 Y. Li, A. Nosratinia, "Capacity limits of multiuser multiantenna cognitive networks", IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, preprint, page 1, March 2012.
      For simplicity of exposition, primary and secondary users are assumed initially to have one antenna, however, as shown in the sequel, most of the results can be directly extended to a scenario where each user has multiple antennas.
  3. Some make a distinction between an antenna and an aerial, with the former used to indicate a rigid structure for radio reception or transmission, and the latter consisting of a wire strung in the air. For those who do not make a distinction, antenna is more commonly used in the United States and aerial is more commonly used in the United Kingdom.
  4. For the faculty of intuitive astuteness, the Latinate plural is used most frequently but both forms are found.
    • 2006, Kelly Pyrek, Forensic Nursing, →ISBN, page 514:
      ...they get these fully formed antennas. With them they get this amazing sense of intuition, a gut feeling about when something might be wrong.

Synonyms

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  • (Feeler organ on the head of an insect): feeler
  • (Device to receive or transmit radio-frequency signal): aerial

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

References

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  1. ^ James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Antenna”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume I (A–B), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 357, column 2.

Italian

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Etymology

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From Latin antenna, the scientific senses were borrowed later.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /anˈten.na/
  • Rhymes: -enna
  • Hyphenation: an‧tén‧na
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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antenna f (plural antenne)

  1. flagpole
  2. (nautical) yard
  3. device to receive or transmit radio signals: aerial (UK), antenna (US)
  4. feeler organ on the head of an insect: antenna

Latin

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Etymology

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May be from Proto-Italic *antitempnā, from Proto-Indo-European *temp- (“to stretch, extend”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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antenna f (genitive antennae); first declension

  1. yard on a ship
  2. (New Latin) antenna in insects etc.

Declension

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First-declension noun.

singular plural
nominative antenna antennae
genitive antennae antennārum
dative antennae antennīs
accusative antennam antennās
ablative antennā antennīs
vocative antenna antennae
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Descendants

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References

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  • “antenna”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • antenna in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • “antenna”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • “antenna”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Norwegian Bokmål

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Alternative forms

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Noun

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antenna m or f

  1. definite feminine singular of antenne

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Noun

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antenna f

  1. definite singular of antenne
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