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

Just type “ICS” in the search function to read about the ways signals can be sent, and to see flag images, their meanings, associated letters and phonetic alphabet letters.

From New York Times • Aug. 10, 2022

I would watch the night’s TV, phone my copy in at midnight and the copy-taker, enraged by my version of the phonetic alphabet, would say: “Is there much more of this stuff?”

From The Guardian • Mar. 3, 2019

During World War II, Dr. Abrams worked at an acoustic laboratory at Harvard, helping develop a phonetic alphabet that could be heard by soldiers amid the din of battle.

From Washington Post • Apr. 23, 2015

The Phœnicians apparently were the first nation in the Eastern Hemisphere to use a phonetic alphabet, the characters being regarded as mere signs for sounds.

From The Story of Atlantis and the Lost Lemuria by Scott-Elliot, W.