decibel 的词源

1928年，来自 deci- + bel (名词)。

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]

科学和工业的进步不断需要新术语，其中之一就是“分贝”这个词，它是由电话工程师创造的，用来描述电话电路的效率。这个词替代了“传输单位”这个短语。最初决定的单位被称为“贝尔”，以电话发明者的名字命名。然而，贝尔单位在实际应用中太大，因此工程师们采用了一个十分之一大小的单位，并命名为分贝。[《大众机械》杂志，1929年5月]