coherence

coherence
/koh hear"euhns, -her"-/, n.
1. the act or state of cohering; cohesion.
2. logical interconnection; overall sense or understandability.
3. congruity; consistency.
4. Physics, Optics. (of waves) the state of being coherent.
5. Ling. the property of unity in a written text or a segment of spoken discourse that stems from the links among its underlying ideas and from the logical organization and development of its thematic content. Cf. cohesion (def. 4).
Also, coherency.
[1570-80; COHER(ENT) + -ENCE]
Syn. 3. correspondence, harmony, agreement, rationality.

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      a fixed relationship between the phase of waves in a beam of radiation of a single frequency. Two beams of light are coherent when the phase difference between their waves is constant; they are noncoherent if there is a random or changing phase relationship. Stable interference (interference fringe) patterns are formed only by radiation emitted by coherent sources, ordinarily produced by splitting a single beam into two or more beams. A laser, unlike an incandescent source, produces a beam in which all the components bear a fixed relationship to each other.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • cohérence — [ kɔerɑ̃s ] n. f. • 1524; lat. cohærentia→ cohérent 1 ♦ Union étroite des divers éléments d un corps. ⇒ adhérence, cohésion, connexion. 2 ♦ Liaison, rapport étroit d idées qui s accordent entre elles; absence de contradiction. Personne, discours… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

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  • coherence — coherence, cohesion mean the quality or character of a whole all of whose parts cohere or stick together. Coherence usually implies a unity of such immaterial or intangible things as the points of an argument, the details of a picture, or the… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • COHÉRENCE — COHÉRENCE, COHÉSION, ADHÉSION.     Force par laquelle les parties des corps tiennent ensemble. C est le phénomène le plus commun et le plus inconnu. Newton se moque des atomes crochus par lesquels on a voulu expliquer la cohérence; car il… …   Dictionnaire philosophique de Voltaire

  • Coherence — Co*her ence, Coherency Co*her en*cy, n. [L. cohaerentia: cf. F. coh[ e]rence.] 1. A sticking or cleaving together; union of parts of the same body; cohesion. [1913 Webster] 2. Connection or dependence, proceeding from the subordination of the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • coherence — late 16c., from M.Fr. cohérence (16c.), from L. cohaerentia, noun of state from cohaerentem (see COHERENT (Cf. coherent)). Related: Coherency …   Etymology dictionary

  • coherence — [kō hir′əns, kōher′əns] n. [Fr < L cohaerentia < cohaerens, prp. of COHERE] 1. the act or condition of cohering; cohesion 2. the quality of being logically integrated, consistent, and intelligible; congruity [his story lacked coherence] 3.… …   English World dictionary

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