decibel 的詞源

1928年，源自 deci- 和 bel（名詞）。

Progress in science and industry is constantly demanding new terms and one of the latest of these is the word "decibel," coined by telephone engineers to describe the efficiency of telephone circuits. It is a substitute for the phrase "transmission unit." The actual unit decided upon was first called "bel," after the inventor of the telephone. The bel, however, is larger than is needed in practice, and, therefore, a unit one-tenth as large was adopted by engineers and named the decibel. [Popular Mechanics, May 1929]

科學和工業的進步不斷要求新術語，其中最新的一個是“分貝”一詞，由電話工程師創造，用於描述電話電路的效率。它是“傳輸單位”這個短語的替代品。最初決定採用的實際單位被稱爲“貝爾”，以電話發明者的名字命名。然而，貝爾比實際需要的要大，因此工程師採用了一個比貝爾小十倍的單位，並將其命名爲分貝。[Popular Mechanics，1929年5月]