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phonogram

American  
[foh-nuh-gram] / ˈfoʊ nəˌgræm /

noun

  1. Linguistics. a symbol that represents a speech sound, syllable, or other sequence of speech sounds without reference to meaning, such as a letter in the Latin alphabet.


phonogram British  
/ ˈfəʊnəˌɡræm /

noun

  1. any written symbol standing for a sound, syllable, morpheme, or word

  2. a sequence of written symbols having the same sound in a variety of different words, for example, ough in bought, ought, and brought

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of phonogram

First recorded in 1855–60; phono- + -gram 1

Vocabulary lists containing phonogram

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.

See Examples For:

The musical accompaniment is provided by a recorded phonogram synthesizer.

From Seattle Times Sep. 14, 2021

Some ten years after the late Thomas Alva Edison first recorded the human voice* on tinfoil in 1877, he sent the foregoing jingly "phonogram," on a wax cylinder, to Colonel George E. Gouraud in London.

From Time Magazine Archive

In matters of business and diplomacy the phonogram will teach its users to be brief, accurate, and honest in their speech; for the phonograph is a mechanical memory more faithful than the living one.

From Heroes of the Telegraph by Munro, John

The separate wax tube, P, is a phonogram with the spiral trace of the sounds already printed on its surface, and ready for posting.

From Heroes of the Telegraph by Munro, John

The phonogram does not wear out by use.

From Buchanan's Journal of Man, December 1887 Volume 1, Number 11 by Buchanan, Joseph R. (Joseph Rodes)

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