Definition of "phonetic" in English

adjective

1. Relating to the sounds of spoken language.

2. (linguistics) Relating to phones (as opposed to phonemes).

3. Relating to the spoken rather than written form of a word or name, as opposed to orthographic.

   • All unfamiliar names have been transcribed in phonetic spelling.

noun

1. (linguistics) 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).