ScienceAugust 17, 2026

anthropophony

AN-thruh-POF-uh-nee

Definition

Sounds generated by human activities, such as machine noise or urban infrastructure, as opposed to natural biological or environmental sounds.

Etymology

Derived from the Greek words 'anthropos' (human) and 'phone' (sound/voice), this term was coined in ecological science to classify human-generated soundscapes.

In the news

The article uses the term to categorize human-made noise, distinguishing it from 'biophony' and 'geophony' when analyzing the acoustic signatures of different ecosystems.

Worm munch matters: the new acoustic ecology of the soil

Read the full article ↗

Aeon

Related words

abiotic

Not involving or produced by living organisms; occurring in nature without the influence…

Science

acetaldehyde

A simple organic compound (an aldehyde) that can serve as a structural candidate when…

Science

acetylene

A colorless, highly flammable hydrocarbon gas commonly used as a chemical building block…

Science

aliphatic

Relating to or denoting organic compounds in which carbon atoms form open chains, rather…

Science

alkene

A type of hydrocarbon molecule containing at least one carbon-to-carbon double bond,…

Science

altruism

Behavior by an organism that benefits other members of its species at a cost to itself,…

Science

Learn a word like this every day

Meet one new word every morning.

Newspoken pulls one carefully chosen word from the day’s news — with a clear definition, context, and light review that makes it stick. Get it on your phone.