acrophony

[ uh-krof-uh-nee ]

noun,plural a·croph·o·nies.
  1. the use of what was originally a logogram as a phonetic symbol for the initial sound of the word the logogram represented, as, in Semitic writing, the use of a picture of a shepherd's crook to represent the sound (l), the first sound of lamed, the Hebrew word for a shepherd's crook.

  2. the use of a word as the name of the alphabetic symbol representing the initial sound of that word.

Origin of acrophony

1
First recorded in 1880–85; acro- + -phony

Other words from acrophony

  • ac·ro·phon·ic [ak-ruh-fon-ik], /ˌæk rəˈfɒn ɪk/, ac·ro·pho·net·ic [ak-ruh-fuh-net-ik], /ˌæk rə fəˈnɛt ɪk/, adjective
  • ac·ro·phon·i·cal·ly, ac·ro·pho·net·i·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024