- Acoustic neuroma: A tumor arising on the auditory (VIIIth cranial) nerve
- Acoustic reflex: The measurable contraction of the muscles of the middle ear in response to an intense sound
- Air conduction: The pathway of sounds that includes the oter ear, middle ear, inner ear, and the structures beyond.
- Air-bone gap (ABG): The difference, in decibels, between the air-conduction threshold and the bone conduction threshold.
- Audiogram: A grah depicting the threshold of audibility (in decibels) as a function of different frequencies.
- Audiometer: A device used for the measurement of hearing.
- Auditory nerve: The VIIIth cranial nerve that carries information from the inner ear to the brain about hearing and balance.
- Bone conduction: The pathway of sound that bypasses the conductive mechanisms of the other and middle ear by vibrating the skull and stimulating the cochlea of the inner ear.
- Central auditory processing disorder (CAPD): Difficulty in discriminating speech, often in the presence of background noise, and frequently in the absence of the loss of hearing sensitivity.
- Cochlea: A structure in the inner ear that converts the mechanical energy received from the middle ear into an electrochemical code for transmission to the brain.
- Conductive hearing loss: A loss of hearing sensitivity caused by damage in to the outer and/or middle ear.
- Hearing Level (HL): The reference that uses normal hearing in the scale of decibels.
- Immittance: Measurement of the impedance of the tympanic membrane or admittance of sound to the middle ear.
- Mastoid process: The bony protrusion behind the pinna.
- Mixed hearing loss: A combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss in the same ear.
- Myringotomy: Incision into the typanic membrane with insertion of a small ventilating tube.
- Otitis media: Ifection of the middle ear.
- Otosclerosis: A hearing loss caused by bony fixation of the stapes in the oval window
- Phonetically balanced (PB) word list: Lists of 50 words that are supposed to contain all the phonetic elements of English speech. These lists are used for testing word recognition
- Sensorineural Hearing loss: Hearing loss caused by damage to the inner ear and/or auditory nerve.
- Speech-recognition threshold (SRT): The lowest intensity at which speech can barely be heard.
- Spondee: A two-syllable word pronounced with equal emphasis on both syllables. Used in testing the SRT.
- Threshold of audibility: The lowest intensity at which a signal can barely be heard.
- Tinnitus: Ringing, roaring, or other sounds heard ing the absence of an external sound.
- Tympanometry: A pressure/compliance function that reveals the status of the middle ear.
- Vestibular mechanism: That part of the inner ear responsible for reporting balance and equilibrium to the brain.
- Word-recognition score (WRS): The score, in percent, that reveals the ability to discriminate amonf the sounds of speech.