What does loudspeaker mean?
A loudspeaker is a device that turns electrical audio signals into sound, usually making the sound louder and allowing music, speech, or announcements to be heard in a room or over a public-address system. It is commonly used for equipment in homes, vehicles, venues, classrooms, and public spaces, and the word can also refer to a person who speaks loudly. In everyday British and American English, “speaker” is often the broader term, while “loudspeaker” gives the more explicit impression of a separate sound-producing unit or an amplified public-address device. The word is a transparent compound: a “loud” “speaker.” It is useful when the technical function, amplification, or public announcement is relevant rather than simply referring to a broader audio system or to someone who talks.
nounA loudspeaker is an electroacoustic device that converts electrical audio signals into sound, usually with amplification, for reproducing music, speech, or other audio. Less commonly, it can mean a person who speaks very loudly.
- An electroacoustic device that converts electrical audio signals into sound, usually with amplification, for reproducing music, speech, or other audio in a room, vehicle, venue, or public-address system.
- A person who speaks very loudly, especially in a public or authoritative manner.
"The presenter's voice crackled through the loudspeaker as the crowd listened."
"The tour guide used a portable loudspeaker so everyone could hear the commentary."
"He was known as a loudspeaker at meetings, always filling the room with his voice."
The standard plural refers to multiple individual loudspeaker devices or units.
"Two loudspeakers were positioned at opposite ends of the stage."
The word tells you exactly what it does: it is a speaker that makes sound loud.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does loudspeaker come from?
Loudspeaker is an English compound formed from loud and speaker. Both components have Germanic origins: loud descends from Old English hlūd, meaning “clearly audible,” while speaker is based on speak, the English verb for saying words. The word speaker was already used for a device that reproduces sound, and adding loud emphasized the device's amplified or high-volume function. The compound developed as audio technology became common in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
How loudspeaker is actually used
Loudspeaker is standard in formal, technical, and everyday British and American English. It is often more specific than speaker, especially when discussing an individual audio device, a stereo component, or a public-address installation. The sense meaning a very loud speaker is less common and more figurative.
Easily confused with loudspeaker
A speaker is the broader everyday term for a device that produces sound, while a loudspeaker more specifically suggests a separate unit or system designed to reproduce sound, often at high volume.