Main Entry: pho·net·ic

Pronunciation: \fə-ˈne-tik\

Function: adjective

Etymology: New Latin phoneticus, from Greek phōnētikos, from phōnein to sound with the voice, from phōnē voice

Date: 1819

1 a : of or relating to spoken language or speech sounds b : of or relating to the science of phonetics
2 : representing the sounds and other phenomena of speech: as a : constituting an alteration of ordinary spelling that better represents the spoken language, that employs only characters of the regular alphabet, and that is used in a context of conventional spelling b : representing speech sounds by means of symbols that have one value only c : employing for speech sounds more than the minimum number of symbols necessary to represent the significant differences in a speaker's speech

— pho·net·i·cal·ly \-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb