Waveforms
Also said as Sine, square, triangle, saw, Oscillator shapes, Timbre
The basic repeating shapes a synthesiser starts from. Each has its own stack of harmonics, the quieter pitches above the main one, and that stack is what makes it sound the way it does.
It gives you words for tone. "Thin and pure" is a sine, "hollow and woody" is a square or a triangle, "buzzy and bright" is a saw, and a sound designer can act on any of those.
Say it
“Use a sine for the coin so it sounds clean, and a saw through a filter for the laser. Keep square waves for the retro menu sounds only.”
Where you’ve seen it
The NES plays music from pulse waves, a triangle and noise, which is much of why its games sound the way they do. Its bass is usually on the triangle, the softest of its voices.
Not to be confused with pitch
Pitch is how high a note is. The waveform is what kind of sound plays at that pitch: a flute and a violin can play the same note.