Echo or eco?
echo is a noun meaning “A reflected sound that is heard again by its initial observer”; eco is a prefix meaning “ecology or the environment (in the ecological sense)”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) echo is about 2.1 times as common as eco.
What is the difference between echo and eco?
| echo | eco | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb, prefix | prefix, adjective, noun |
| Meaning | A reflected sound that is heard again by its initial observer An utterance repeating what has just been said Of a sound or sound waves: to reflect off a surface and return; to reverberate or resound | ecology or the environment (in the ecological sense) economy A proposed name for the common currency that the West African Monetary Zone plans to introduce in the framework of the Economic Community of West African… |
| Example | Sid echoed his father’s point of view | This vacuum cleaner has an eco setting which preserves battery life |
| Forms | echoes, echos | ecos, ECOs |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɛk.əʊ/ /ˈɛk.oʊ/ | /ˈiːkəʊ/ /ˈɛkoʊ/ /ˈiː.kəʊ/ |
| In writing | 11 times per million words | 5.1 times per million words |
Sources: echo and eco in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of echo and eco
echo
- 1
A reflected sound that is heard again by its initial observer
- 2
Of a sound or sound waves: to reflect off a surface and return; to reverberate or resound
- 3
Synonym of sono-
- 4
An utterance repeating what has just been said
- 5
Of a rumour, opinion, etc.: to spread or reverberate
- 6
repetition, imitation
- 7
A device in verse in which a line ends with a word which recalls the sound of the last word of the preceding line
- 8
To reflect back (a sound)
eco
- 1
ecology or the environment (in the ecological sense)
- 2
Clipping of ecological: environmentally friendly or sensitive
- 3
A proposed name for the common currency that the West African Monetary Zone plans to introduce in the framework of the Economic Community of West African States
- 4
USAbbreviation of engine cutoff
- 5
economy
- 6
Clipping of economy (“affording economical use, e.g. of an appliance”)
This vacuum cleaner has an eco setting which preserves battery life
- 7
Initialism of eternally collapsing object, a type of black hole replacement, to avoid having gravitational singularities
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, echo or eco?
echo appears 11 times per million words; eco 5.1 times per million words.
echo 11 times per million wordseco 5.1 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).