Morse code

Morse code

[′mȯrs ′kōd]

(communications)

A telegraph code for manual operating, consisting of short (dot) and long (dash) signals and various-length spaces; now used only for wire telegraphy. Also known as American Morse code.

Collective term for Morse code (American Morse code) and continental code (International Morse code).

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Morse code

(communications)

A coding system invented by Samuel A. Morse, for use in sending character data over extremely low-quality pathways -- such as telegraphs and low-quality radio. Morse code expresses characters as pulses of different durations. Short signals are called "dots" and long signals are calles "dashes". The coding assigns shorter sequences to the most frequently used characters.

American Morse code is the first and original Morse code character set. Character sets adapted to other languages were developed later.

American Morse Code:

A . __ J . . S . . . 1 . __ __ . B __ . . . K __ . __ T __ 2 . . __ . . C . . . L ___ U . . __ 3 . . . __ . D __ . . M __ __ V . . . __ 4 . . . . __ E . N __ . W . __ __ 5 __ __ __ F . __ . O . . X . __ . . 6 . . . . . . G __ __ . P . . . . . Y . . . . 7 __ __ . . H . . . . Q . . __ . Z . . . . 8 __ . . . . I . . R . . . 0 ____ 9 __ . . __

Where . is a short pulse, __ a long pulse, ___ a very long pulse and ____ a extra long pulse. There are also long and short spaces character-internal. Intercharacter spaces are very long and interword spaces are extra long. There is no standarisation in these durations, and they vary depending on the coder's preference and on the quality of the line.

Continental Morse Code or International Morse Code is a widely used de-facto standard. This table summarises the Western European usage of Continental Morse Code:

A .- G --. M -- S ... Y -.-- 4 ....- B -... H .... N -. T - Z --.. 5 ..... C -.-. I .. O --- U ..- 0 ----- 6 -.... D -.. J .--- P .--. V ...- 1 .---- 7 --... E . K -.- Q --.- W .-- 2 ..--- 8 ---.. F ..-. L .-.. R .-. X -..- 3 ...-- 9 ----.

A-umlaut (1) .-.- E-acute ..-.. A-acute .--.- N-tilde --.-- A-corona (11) .--.- O-umlaut (1) ---. CH (2) ---- U-umlaut (1) ..--

Punctuation Marks: Other Signs:

period .-.-.- warning .-..- comma --..-- error ........ question mark ..--.. repetition (ii ii) .. .. hyphen -....- wait (AS) .-... colon (3) ---... interruption (BK) -...-.- underline (4) ..--.- understood (VE) ...-. apostrophe .----. transmission received (R) .-. quotation mark .-..-. beginning of message (KA) -.-.- parenthesis open (5)-.--. end of message (AR) .-.-. parenthesis (close) -.--.- end of transmission (K) (6) -.- equal sign (7) -...- end of transmission (KN) (8) -.--. plus sign .-.-. closing mark (SK) (9) ...-.- multiplication sign -..- closing station (CL) -.-..-. fraction mark -..-. separator (10) .-..-

(1) Note: 'umlaut' is also known as 'diaeresis' (2) Used only in German; not in Dutch. (3) also: 'divided by' (4) before and after the word to be underlined (5) purportedly replaced by -.--.- for both "(" and ")" (6) both and invitation to any station to start transmission (7) also used as spacing between parts of transmission (8) also an invitation to one station in particular to start transmission (9) connection will be closed. (10) in fractions, for example. (11) A-ring ?

Where '.' is a short pulse, '-' a long one. A '-' is three times as long as a '.'; character-internal spaces are as long as '.'s. Intercharacter space are as long as -'s. Spaces between words are as long as seven '.'s.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

Morse code

A character code invented by Samuel Morse that is represented by the duration of a single tone. Written as dots, dashes and spaces, the first Morse code message was sent in 1844 over a newly constructed telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington. In World War II, Morse code was sent by light signals. A variation of the original was made by Friedrich Gerke in 1848, which evolved into the International Morse Code.

Dits and Dahs - Actually Hear Them!
The code was based on English; E and T being the most frequently used letters, hence one dot was assigned to E and one dash for T (see table below). Dots and dashes are vocalized as "dit" and "dah," and the timing is one dit between each dit and dah, three dits between letters and seven dits between words. To hear an audible translation in Morse code of any text, visit http://morsecode.scphillips.com. Try catching the rhythm.

Morse Code Beat Out Texting
In 2007, Tonight Show host Jay Leno posed a speed challenge. Given the secret message at the same time "I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance," the Morse code operator tapped all the words to his colleague across the stage before the young texter could finish typing the sentence. See Gmail Tap and telegraph.

International Morse Code

  A   .-       U   ..-    
  B   -...     V   ...-   
  C   -.-.     W   .--    
  D   -..      X   -..-   
  E   .        Y   -.--   
               Z   --..   
  F   ..-.
  G   --.      0   -----  
  H   ....     1   .----  
  I   ..       2   ..---  
  J   .---     3   ...--  
               4   ....-  
  K   -.-      5   .....  
  L   .-..     6   -....  
  M   --       7   --...  
  N   -.       8   ---..  
  O   ---      9   ----.  

  P   .--.     Period      .-.-.-
  Q   --.-     Comma       --..--
  R   .-.      ? Mark      ..--..
  S   ...      Hyphen      -....-
  T   -        Apostrophe  .----.
               Colon       ---...
  U   ..-      Quotation   .-..-.
  V   ...-     Slash       -..-.
  W   .--      @ sign      .--.-.
  X   -..-
  Y   -.--
  Z   --..

Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Morse Code

 

a nonuniform telegraph code in which each symbol is expressed by a combination of pulses of electric current. Each combination consists of elementary (shortest) pulses, or dots, and pulses of triple duration, or dashes. The code was developed in 1837 by S. Morse for use in his telegraph apparatus.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.