phonics

American  

[fon-iks, foh-niks] / ˈfɒn ɪks, ˈfoʊ nɪks /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

phonics plural

1. a method of teaching reading and spelling based upon the phonetic interpretation of ordinary spelling.

2. Obsolete. phonetics.

---

phonics British  

/ ˈfɒnɪks /

noun

1. an obsolete name for acoustics

2. a method of teaching people to read by training them to associate letters with their phonetic values

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• phonic
  adjective
• phonically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• phonics
  plural

Etymology

Origin of phonics

First recorded in 1675–85; phon- + -ics

Compare meaning

How does phonics compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• phonics vs. phonetics

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

phonics

The state’s schools—once among the U.S.’s worst-performing—have made gains with intensive tutoring, mandatory summer school for struggling pupils and a back-to-basics approach that emphasizes phonics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

For years, schools taught reading using approaches that de-emphasized phonics and encouraged strategies such as guessing words based on context clues.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026

Assembly Bill 2222, proposed in 2024, would have mandated the use of phonics in reading instruction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025

Simply joining in with his classmates' phonics practice was something his mum Claire says she "didn't dare to dream could happen".

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2025

Philology, comparing the languages of earth in their radicals, must therefore include the graphic or manual presentation of thought, and compare the elements of ideography with those of phonics.

From Sign Language Among North American Indians Compared With That Among Other Peoples And Deaf-Mutes First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1879-1880, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1881, pages 263-552 by Mallery, Garrick