Meaning & use
auditory
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nountechnicalmedical
Relating to the sense of hearing or the process of perceiving sound.
Grammar: Used before nouns: auditory nerve, auditory cortex.
Patterns
- auditory + noun
The auditory nerve carries signals from the ear to the brain.
Auditory processing disorder can affect how a person understands speech.
The study focused on auditory perception in infants.
adjectivebefore a nounmedical
Relating to the ear or the organs of hearing.
Grammar: Often used in medical contexts.
Patterns
- auditory + noun
The auditory canal can become blocked by earwax.
Auditory hallucinations are a symptom of some mental illnesses.
Common combinations
- auditory nerve
- Damage to the auditory nerve can cause hearing loss.
- auditory processing
- Auditory processing is how the brain interprets sounds.
- auditory cortex
- The auditory cortex is the part of the brain that processes sound.
- auditory hallucination
- He experienced auditory hallucinations, hearing voices that weren't there.
Synonyms and how they differ
- acoustic
- Relates to sound itself or the physics of sound, not specifically to the sense of hearing.
- aural
- Means relating to the ear or hearing, often used in educational contexts; auditory is more technical and medical.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: auditory or audible?
auditory vs audible
Means loud enough to be heard; auditory means relating to the sense of hearing.
Practice
The doctor examined the patient's ______ canal for signs of infection.
Choose one answer.
The auditory canal is the tube leading to the eardrum, so 'auditory' is the correct medical term. 'Audible' means able to be heard; 'acoustic' relates to sound in general; 'aural' relates to the ear but is less specific in this fixed phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “auditory”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.