Standard Lemma guide

phonautograph

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /fənɔːtəɡɹɑːf/
  • US: /fənɔtəɡɹæf/ without the cot–caught merger
  • US: non-cot-caught Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • cot-caught-merger: /fənɑtəɡɹæf/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A device for recording sound vibrations in a visible form.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bheh2-der. Proto-Hellenic *phōnā́ Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ)der. English phono- English auto- Proto-Indo-European *gerbh- Proto-Hellenic *grə́phō Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō) Ancient Greek -γρᾰ́φος (-grắphos)der. English -graph English phonautograph From phono- + auto- + -graph.