Is it "damping" or "dampening" when referring to sound?

Question

When one refers to the act of modifying a physical object so as to make it better at absorbing sound vibrations, is that "damping" or "dampening" the object? I've seen both, and looking them up in the dictionary they appear to be more or less interchangeable.

Answer 1

Strictly speaking it's damp - OED: to stifle, choke, extinguish; to dull, deaden (fire, sound, etc.)

As a child, it was my job to damp the fire (9600 hits in Google Books) every night by closing off the stove's air supply. If I did it right, next morning I'd just add more coal and open the air vents. If not, I'd have to clean everything out and relight it with paper and kindling.

According to OED, damp/dampen have a common origin - which is somewhat uncertain, but the key concept seems to be smoke, dust, vapour, steam. Today, damp is more closely associated with moisture/water, whereas dampen goes more with stifle/extinguish.

It's worth noting that dampen the fire gets 5310 GB hits (i.e. - the "incorrect" usage occurs relatively more often with fire than with sound). Partly that's because some people think in terms of adding dampness/water, rather than taking away air, to slow down a fire. But partly it's because they're essentially the same word anyway, so neither is really "wrong".

Answer 2

The verb technically appears to be to damp. FumbleFingers notes the OED's definition. M-W and the Random House Dictionary (at Dictionary.com) under dampen merely refer the reader to the relevant definition of damp. The things in a piano are called dampers, not dampeners. In a more formal context, damp is the proper choice.

Dampen does seem to enjoy use. On the Wikipedia page for damping (music), there are instances of dampening. NOAD lists as a subsidiary definition, "reduce the amplitude of (a sound source)." M-W and Random House both acknowledge that it has the same meaning in music as to damp. In an informal context, dampen is fine.

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In my own vocabulary, damp is an adjective and dampen is a verb. If I want a wet cloth to wipe the kitchen table, I do not damp it; I dampen it.

Answer 3

"-en" is added onto some adjectives to convert them into verbs. In that context, it is used to make the adjective's object more like the adjective. "The floor is not damp. Please dampen the floor." When 'damp' is used as an adjective, it means wet, so to dampen is to make it wet.

Damp is also a complete verb on its own, meaning (primarily) to reduce the amplitude. Adding -en in this context is improper. "That vibration is harsh. Please damp it." It would not make sense to describe a sound as being "not damp" like a floor...so you do not dampen it.

Answer 4

damping

The correct word for reducing the amplitude in waves (such as sound waves) is "damping" or "to damp."

See wikipedia on damping

The word "dampen" means to make damp or moist, and is concerned with liquid, not sound.

These are often (and easily) confused, but as a former employee of Acoustic Sciences Corporation, I can tell you with confidence the correct word here is "damping."

Answer 5

I believe when you are referring to sound you should use "damping" or "damper". The two sound similar, but "damping" should always be used in the context of sound, gas or fire.

Damping: to check the vibration or oscillation of (as a string or voltage) (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Whereas "dampening" has a less scientific meaning:

• to check or diminish the activity or vigor of : deaden ("the heat dampened our spirits")

• to make damp ("the rain shower barely dampened the ground")

Answer 6

When I was a young engineer, 25 years ago, I was told "To dampen is to get wet, to damp is to attenuate". Even back then most engineers I worked with used 'dampen'. More recently I've heard almost 100% usage of dampen. I am practically alone in my usage of damp, it seems. Times change, I suppose.

Answer 7

Every Controls textbook I have from engineering school uses "damping" ratio; not "dampening" ratio. When hearing "dampening" I tend to want to ask someone if they plan to pour water on it.

(1) Basic Feedback Controls Systems, Alternate 2nd Edition, C.L. Phillips & R.D. Harbor, 1991, Prentice Hall (2) System Dynamics: Modeling and Response, E.O. Doebelin, 1972, The Ohio State University (3) Multivariable Feedback Design, J.M. Maciejowski, 1989, Addison-Wesley (4) Digital Control of Dynamic Systems, G.F. Franklin, J.D. Powell & M.L. Workman, 1998, Addison-Wesley (5) Modern Control Theory, 3rd Edition, W.L. Brogan, 1991, Prentice Hall

Answer 8

I blame Star Trek and their incorrectly named 'dampening fields'. Interestingly, in Season 1 of Star Trek: The Next Generation they correctly used 'damping field', but from Season 2 and beyond they had changed it. Perhaps the language in the 24th Century changed.

Answer 9

The essence of acoustic damping is to suppress vibration. The relevant entry in the OED is

Damper

2.a. A piece of mechanism in a pianoforte for ‘damping’ or stopping the vibrations of the strings, consisting of a small piece of wood or wire covered with cloth or felt, which rests against the strings corresponding to each key, and is raised or withdrawn from them when the key is pressed down.

1783 J. Broadwood Specif. Patent 1379 b, b, are the dampers, which also is fixt under the strings.

1856 M. C. Clarke tr. H. Berlioz Treat. Mod. Instrumentation 72 The sign ⊕ indicates that the dampers must be replaced by quitting the pedal.

which gave rise to the verb

to damp:

1 c. Acoustics, Music, etc. To stop the vibrations of a string or the like; to furnish (the strings of a pianoforte) with dampers. In wider use: to impose or to act as a resisting influence on (an oscillation or vibration of any kind) so that it is either progressively reduced in amplitude or, if the resistance is sufficiently great, converted into non-oscillatory return to an equilibrium position; also used with the oscillating body as object. So to damp out: to damp, to extinguish by damping.

1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 140 A piece of cloth..to damp or stop the string [in a clavichord].

1935 F. J. Camm Pract. Motorist's Encycl. 82/2 The leaf-springs of the car's suspension system..damp-out a large proportion of the road shocks and vibrations suffered by the wheels of the car.

Which in turn gave rise to the gerund/noun/verbal noun, damping:

1 b. The action of damping an oscillation or an oscillating body (also damping out: see damp v. 1c, 1d); the resistance to an oscillation; also, the amount of this, as measured by the rate at which the oscillation diminishes in amplitude.

1870 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 39 435 An oscillatory current..sustains itself twice as long against the damping action of resistance as a comparatively steady current of the same maximum value.

1945 Electronic Engin. 17 455 Resulting in better damping of the receiver diaphragm and consequently suppression of the effects of resonance.

1967 E. U. Condon & H. Odishaw Handbk. Physics (ed. 2) ii. iii. 22/1 As the magnitude of the damping is increased, the rate of decay of the oscillations becomes greater..until..the motion becomes aperiodic and is said to be critically damped.

As far as "dampen" is concerned MW does have

dampen verb transitive

1: to check or diminish the activity or vigor of : DEADEN

the heat dampened our spirits

Of particular concern, Ater said, is that the new laws and legal instability will dampen investment in Israel’s tech sector and lead to an industry brain drain.

Although one can see the connection between "to check or diminish the activity or vigor of" and The action of damping an oscillation, this American English use seems to be the use of to damp a fire, rather than be the more specific "damp" relating to oscillations and persistence.

Answer 10

Shock absorbers on a car are more correctly called 'dampers' (not dampeners)as they attenuate the oscillation of the springs. In sci-fi films, inertial dampers seem occasionally nowadays to be referred to as 'dampeners'.