phonetic alphabet

American  

noun

1. an alphabet containing a separate character for each distinguishable speech sound.

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phonetic alphabet British  

noun

1. a list of the words used in communications to represent the letters of the alphabet, as in E for Echo, T for Tango

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Etymology

Origin of phonetic alphabet

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

They say they have found four basic components they think make up this phonetic alphabet.

From Seattle Times • May 7, 2024

For much of the show’s run, various minor nurse characters were so interchangeable that they were repeatedly named “Able” and “Baker” — literally, “A” and “B” in an older version of the military phonetic alphabet.

From New York Times • Sep. 16, 2022

The phrase comes from the military phonetic alphabet; it is not slang.

From Washington Post • Mar. 18, 2016

Other peoples provided the Greeks with crucial technological advances; they learned the phonetic alphabet from the Phoenicians, and how to mint coins from the Lydians.

From The Guardian • Jun. 20, 2015

Printing with moveable type and a phonetic alphabet were brought into use and vernacular literature began to flourish.

From Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 3 by Eliot, Charles, Sir