Main Entry:

pho·neme

Pronunciation:

\ˈfō-ˌnēm\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

French phonème, from Greek phōnēmat-, phōnēma speech sound, utterance, from phōnein to sound

Date:

1896

: any of the abstract units of the phonetic system of a language that correspond to a set of similar speech sounds (as the velar \k\ of cool and the palatal \k\ of keel) which are perceived to be a single distinctive sound in the language