noun · 5 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:/ˈfɒnɪks/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈfəʊnɪks/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈfɑnɪks/
General-American:/ˈfoʊnɪks/
rhymes with -ɒnɪks
CMU ARPABET:F AA1 N IH0 K S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The study of how the sounds of words are represented by spelling.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A method of teaching elementary reading based on the phonetic interpretation of normal spelling.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
Phonetics.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
Acoustics.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
teaching reading by training beginners to associate letters with their sound values
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: teaching reading
History
Etymology
From phon- + -ics.
Across languages
Translations
8 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Finnish:
foniikka
— study
Spanish:
fónica
— study
Chinese Mandarin:
自然拼讀 /自然拼读
(zìránpīndú)
— method of teaching
Chinese Mandarin:
自然拼音
(zìránpīnyīn)
— method of teaching
Chinese Mandarin:
字母拼讀 /字母拼读
(zìmǔpīndú)
— method of teaching
Chinese Mandarin:
自然發音 /自然发音
(zìránfāyīn)
— method of teaching
Japanese:
フォニックス
(fuonikkusu)
— method of teaching