Standard Lemma guide

phonon

noun · 2 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.

  • US: /ˈfoʊ.nɑn/
  • US: /ˈfoʊ.nɔn/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The quantum of acoustic or vibrational energy (sound), considered a discrete particle rather than a wave.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A unit of phonemics.

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

History

Etymology

From phono- + -on. From Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”). Modelled after photon.

From phono- + -on. From Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”).

Across languages

Translations

20 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: ֆոնոն (fonon) — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 聲子 /声子 (shēngzǐ) — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Finnish: fononi — quantum of acoustic energy
  • French: phonon — quantum of acoustic energy
  • German: Phonon — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Hindi: ध्वन्यणु (dhvanyaṇu) — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Icelandic: hljóðeind — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Italian: fonone — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Japanese: フォノン (fonon) — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Japanese: 音子 (onshi) — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Japanese: 音響量子 (onkyō ryōshi) — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Khmer: សព្ទាណូ (sab tea no) — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Korean: 음향양자 (eumhyang'yangja) — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Polish: fonon — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Brazilian Portuguese: fônon — quantum of acoustic energy
  • European Portuguese: fonão — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Russian: фоно́н (fonón) — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Serbo-Croatian: фо̀но̄н — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Serbo-Croatian: fònōn — quantum of acoustic energy
  • Swedish: fonon — quantum of acoustic energy