phonics
Americannoun
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a method of teaching reading and spelling based upon the phonetic interpretation of ordinary spelling.
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Obsolete. phonetics.
noun
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an obsolete name for acoustics
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a method of teaching people to read by training them to associate letters with their phonetic values
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Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of phonics
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Explanation
Phonics is the science of sound. It’s also a way of teaching reading by focusing on how letters and groups of letters of the alphabet look and sound. Phonics comes from the Greek word phone for "sound." Phone is a familiar word as the thing you talk to people on, but it also shows up in other sound-related words like phonology (the scientific study of sounds in languages) and phonograph (an old device for playing music). Phonics is a way of teaching beginning readers to match letters and sounds. By associating letters with sounds, phonics helps people hear and say the words they’re seeing on the page.
Vocabulary lists containing phonics
Common Senses: Phon ("Sound")
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phon
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2015 National Spelling Bee Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Phonics instruction gets kids in the door, then whole language comprehension needs to take over.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
Phonics is a great way to get kids to sight-read, but whole-language learning in sentences is an important motivating factor.
From Washington Post • Mar. 15, 2023
Phonics and phonemic awareness is important for all students, but especially for dyslexic kids and English learners, who have trouble distinguishing between all the sounds.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 17, 2022
Every couple of years throughout the ’80s and ’90s, he released another record on his label, Bellemeade Phonics.
From New York Times • Dec. 8, 2021
Phonics is not a method of teaching reading, but it is a necessary part of every good, modern method.
From How to Teach Phonics by Williams, Lida M.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
