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• phon
  phon

  noun

  a unit for measuring the apparent loudness of a sound, equal in number for a given sound to the intensity in decibels of a sound having a frequency of 1000 cycles per second when, in the judgment of a group of listeners, the two sounds are of equal loudness.
• phon-
  phon-

  variant of phono- before a vowel.
• phon.
  phon.

  abbreviation

  phonetics.

phon

¹ American  

[fon] / fɒn /

noun

1. a unit for measuring the apparent loudness of a sound, equal in number for a given sound to the intensity in decibels of a sound having a frequency of 1000 cycles per second when, in the judgment of a group of listeners, the two sounds are of equal loudness.

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phon- ² American  

1. variant of phono- before a vowel.

   phonic.

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phon. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. phonetics.

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phon. ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. Also: phonet.  phonetics

2. phonology

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phon ² British  

/ fɒn /

noun

1. a unit of loudness that measures the intensity of a sound by the number of decibels it is above a reference tone having a frequency of 1000 hertz and a root-mean-square sound pressure of 20 × 10 ^–6 pascal

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phon Scientific  

/ fŏn /

1. A unit of apparent loudness. The loudness of a signal in phons is equal to the intensity in decibels of a 1,000-hertz tone judged to be as loud as the signal being measured.

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Etymology

Origin of phon

First recorded in 1930–35, phon is from the Greek word phōnḗ voice

Example Sentences

Phons differ from decibels because the phon is a unit of loudness perception, whereas the decibel is a unit of physical intensity.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

A unit called a phon is used to express loudness numerically.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

The "Pi" for piano, "ra" for radio, and "phon" for phonograph were embodied in a single instrument which had been carefully studied by the Aeolian Company of New York.

From Time Magazine Archive