Acoustics
Pronunciation : A*cous"tics (#; 277)
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [Names of sciences in -ics, as, acoustics, mathematics, etc., are usually treated as singular. See - ics.] (Physics.)
Definition : Defn: The science of sounds, teaching their nature, phenomena, and laws. Acoustics, then, or the science of sound, is a very considerable branch of physics. Sir J. Herschel.
Note: The science is, by some writers, divided, into diacoustics, which explains the properties of sounds coming directly from the ear; and catacoustica, which treats of reflected sounds or echoes.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913