How often the vibration occurs is the frequency. The distance the wave has traveled between maximums is the wavelength. One of the most interesting property of waves is that when two waves pass through each other, their effects are added together. This is called interference. There are many more wave properties we can't get into for lack of space.
Wave properties are key to understanding particle behavior.
Imagine a light source being blocked by a sheet of metal with two slits in it. A few meters away there is a screen. These two light waves travel different distances to reach the screen, so they interfere with each other, creating an interference pattern. It turns out that if you repeat the same experiment using a particle beam instead of a light source, you record a similar interference pattern. This means that all particles have wave properties.