adj · noun · 6 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.
/fəˈnɛt.ɪk/
Canada, General-American:[fəˈnɛɾ.ɪk]
Australian, New-Zealand:[fəˈneɾ.ɪk]
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
homophone: phenetic
homophone: fanatic (only in certain topolects with the met–mat merger)
CMU ARPABET:F AH0 N EH1 T IH0 K
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Relating to the sounds of spoken language.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Relating to phones (as opposed to phonemes).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Relating to the spoken rather than written form of a word or name, as opposed to orthographic.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Examples
All unfamiliar names have been transcribed in phonetic spelling.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
In such writing systems as the Chinese writing system, the portion of a phono-semantic character that provides an indication of its pronunciation; contrasted with semantic (which is usually the radical).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
adjective
Meaning 5
of or relating to the scientific study of speech sounds
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
phonetic analysis
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
adjective
Meaning 6
of or relating to speech sounds
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
phonetic transcription
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: phonic
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin phōnēticus, from Ancient Greek φωνητῐκός (phōnētĭkós). By surface analysis, phone + -etic.
Across languages
Translations
58 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
foneties
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Armenian:
հնչյունային
(hnčʻyunayin)
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Asturian:
fonéticu
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Catalan:
fonètic
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Czech:
fonetický
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Danish:
fonetisk
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Dutch:
fonetisch
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Finnish:
äänteellinen
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Finnish:
foneettinen
— relating to sounds of spoken language
French:
phonétique
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Galician:
fonético
— relating to sounds of spoken language
German:
phonetisch
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Greek:
φωνητικός
(fonitikós)
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Ingrian:
fonettiin
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Interlingua:
phonetic
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Irish:
foghraíochta
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Italian:
fonetico
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Latvian:
fonētisks
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Manx:
sheeanagh
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Norwegian Bokmål:
fonetisk
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Norwegian Nynorsk:
fonetisk
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Occitan:
fonetic
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Polish:
fonetyczny
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Portuguese:
fonético
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Romanian:
fonetic
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Russian:
фонети́ческий
(fonetíčeskij)
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Scottish Gaelic:
fogharach
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Spanish:
fonético
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Swedish:
fonetisk
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Tagalog:
palatinigin
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Yiddish:
פֿאָנעטיש
(fonetish)
— relating to sounds of spoken language
Armenian:
հնչյունաբանական
(hnčʻyunabanakan)
— linguistics: relating to phones
Asturian:
fonéticu
— linguistics: relating to phones
Danish:
fonetisk
— linguistics: relating to phones
Dutch:
fonetisch
— linguistics: relating to phones
Finnish:
foneettinen
— linguistics: relating to phones
French:
phonétique
— linguistics: relating to phones
Galician:
fonético
— linguistics: relating to phones
German:
phonetisch
— linguistics: relating to phones
Hungarian:
fonetikai
— linguistics: relating to phones
Latvian:
fonētisks
— linguistics: relating to phones
Norwegian Bokmål:
fonetisk
— linguistics: relating to phones
Norwegian Nynorsk:
fonetisk
— linguistics: relating to phones
Polish:
fonetyczny
— linguistics: relating to phones
Portuguese:
fonético
— linguistics: relating to phones
Romanian:
fonetic
— linguistics: relating to phones
Scottish Gaelic:
fogharach
— linguistics: relating to phones
Spanish:
fonético
— linguistics: relating to phones
Tagalog:
palatinigin
— linguistics: relating to phones
Ukrainian:
фонети́чний
(fonetýčnyj)
— linguistics: relating to phones
Welsh:
seinegol
— linguistics: relating to phones
Yiddish:
פֿאָנעטיש
(fonetish)
— linguistics: relating to phones
Chinese Mandarin:
聲旁 /声旁
(shēngpáng)
— component of a phono-semantic compound that indicates pronunciation
Chinese Mandarin:
聲符 /声符
(shēngfú)
— component of a phono-semantic compound that indicates pronunciation
Chinese Mandarin:
形聲偏旁 /形声偏旁
(xíngshēng piānpáng)
— component of a phono-semantic compound that indicates pronunciation
Finnish:
foneettinen osa
— component of a phono-semantic compound that indicates pronunciation
Japanese:
音符
(onpu)
— component of a phono-semantic compound that indicates pronunciation
Polish:
część fonetyczna
— component of a phono-semantic compound that indicates pronunciation
