The invisible medium through which radio, television, and wireless signals are transmitted; often used to refer to broadcast media in general.
Compound of 'air' and 'waves.' 'Air' comes from Latin aer, and 'waves' refers to electromagnetic waves. The term was coined in the early 1900s when radio became popular and people needed a word for the transmission medium.
Before airwaves became a metaphor, scientists actually discovered that radio signals are literal waves traveling through the air at the speed of light! It's one of the coolest moments where poetic language (calling it 'waves') turned out to be scientifically true.
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