phonogram

[ foh-nuh-gram ]

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. Compare ideogram ( def 1 ), logogram ( def 1 ).

phonogram

/ 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

Derived Forms

• ˌphonoˈgramic, adjective

Other Words From

• pho·no·gram·ic pho·no·gram·mic [foh-n, uh, -, gram, -ik], adjective
• pho·no·gram·i·cal·ly pho·no·gram·mi·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of phonogram¹

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

Example Sentences

The musical accompaniment is provided by a recorded phonogram synthesizer.

From Seattle Times

The first case before the court concerns Frank Peterson, a music producer, who sued YouTube and Google in Germany for the uploading to YouTube in 2008 of several phonograms to which he holds the rights.

From Reuters

Mr. Welling forces the connection to Wyeth, though, in a series of abstract phonograms that have been digitally tinted with the colors from some of his Wyeth photographs.

From New York Times

In 1888 Edison sent his first phonogram by steamer to England.

From Project Gutenberg

The phonogram has now become the symbol of a monosyllable, which is normally made up of two elements, a consonant and a vowel, as in the Devanágari, and other syllabic systems.

From Project Gutenberg