Standard Lemma guide

phonograph

noun · verb · 7 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: /ˈfəʊnəˌɡɹɑːf/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈfoʊnəˌɡɹæf/
  • CMU ARPABET: F OW1 N AH0 G R AE2 F Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A device that captures sound waves onto an engraved archive; a lathe.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A device that records or plays sound from cylinder records.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, historical

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A record player.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Canada, US, historical

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A character or symbol used to represent a sound, especially one used in phonography.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To record for playback by phonograph.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To transcribe into phonographic symbols.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

machine in which rotating records cause a stylus to vibrate and the vibrations are amplified acoustically or electronically

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: record player

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: machine

Narrower terms: gramophone, acoustic gramophone, jukebox, nickelodeon

History

Etymology

From phono- + -graph.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Ahtna: tnelzaeli — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Ahtna: tubaaghe kenaegeʼ — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Bulgarian: фонограф (fonograf) — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Catalan: fonògraf — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Czech: fonograf — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Danish: fonograf — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Esperanto: fonografo — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Finnish: fonografi — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • German: Phonograph — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Greek: φωνογράφος (fonográfos) — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Hawaiian: pahu ʻōlelo — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Italian: fonografo — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Japanese: 蓄音機 (chikuonki) — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Macedonian: фо́нограф (fónograf) — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Marathi: फोनोग्राफ (phonogrāph) — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Polish: fonograf — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Polish: adapter — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Portuguese: fonógrafo — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Russian: фоно́граф (fonógraf) — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Spanish: fonógrafo — device that records or plays sound from cylinder records
  • Russian: фонографировать (fonografirovatʹ) — to record for playback
Real reading context

phonograph in complete knowledge articles