/ ˈfriːkwənsi; NAmE / noun ( pl. -ies )
1.
[ U , C ] the rate at which sth happens or is repeated :
Fatal road accidents have decreased in frequency over recent years.
a society with a high / low frequency (= happening often / not very often) of stable marriages
The program can show us word frequency (= how often words occur in a language) .
2.
[ U ] the fact of sth happening often :
the alarming frequency of computer errors
Objects like this turn up at sales with surprising frequency.
3.
[ C , U ] ( technical ) the rate at which a sound or electromagnetic wave vibrates (= moves up and down) :
a high / low frequency
4.
[ C , U ] ( technical ) the number of radio waves for every second of a radio signal :
a frequency band
There are only a limited number of broadcasting frequencies.
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 16th cent. (gradually superseding late Middle English frequence ; originally denoting a gathering of people): from Latin frequentia , from frequens , frequent- crowded, frequent.