Skip to content
Vinony

hypersonic

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or capable of speed equal to or exceeding five times the speed of sound
L1493791 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

adj

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Hellenic *hupér Ancient Greek ῠ̔πέρ (hŭpér) Ancient Greek ῠ̔περ- (hŭper-)der. English hyper- Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- Proto-Indo-European *swónh₂os Latin sonus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English sonic English hypersonic From hyper- + sonic. Doublet of supersonic.

  1. Of a speed, equal to, or greater than, or capable of achieving, five times the speed of sound.

    “He said there was worry among intelligence and military officials that China or Russia could be experimenting with hypersonic technology.”

  2. Of a speed, far enough above the speed of sound as to cause significant differences in behaviour due to chemical reactions or dissociation of the air.