Webster's English Dictionary

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phonetic

pho.net.ic \f*-'net-ik\ \-i-k*l\ \-k(*-)le-\ aj [NL phoneticus, fr. Gk 
   pho-ne-tikos, fr. pho-nein to] sound with the voice, fr. pho-ne- voice 1a: 
   of or relating to spoken language or speech sounds  1b: of or relating to 
   the science of phonetics  2: representing the sounds and other phenomena of 
   speech :  2a: constituting an alteration of ordinary spelling that better 
   represents  the spoken language, that employs only characters of the 
   regular alphabet, and that is used in a context of conventional spelling 
   2b: representing speech sounds by means of symbols that have one value onl 
   y 2c: employing for speech sounds more than the minimum number of symbols 
   ne cessary to represent the significant differences in a speaker's speech - 
   pho.net.i.cal aj