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
Other Word Forms
- phonic adjective
- phonically adverb
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.
Rather than using a systematic method, such as phonics, he gradually picked up patterns on the page.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026
Each school district must convince its teachers to choose phonics.
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
Mr Briggs also claimed the changes were bearing fruit with improved pupil scores for phonics.
From BBC • Jul. 28, 2025
Constantly review all familiar sounds, phonograms, digraphs, blends, etc., when met in new words, and so teach pupils to apply their knowledge of phonics.
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.
