phonics

UK: /ˈfɒnɪks/ US: /ˈfɑnɪks/ ,(fon′iks or, for 2, fō′niks)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

phon•ics /ˈfɑnɪks/   n. [uncountable* used with a singular verb]

1. Education a method of teaching reading and spelling based upon the study of how sounds are related to ordinary spelling.

phon•ic, adj. 
phon•i•cal•ly, adv. See -phon-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

phon•ics  (fon′iks or, for 2, fō′niks), n. (used with a sing. v.)

1. Education a method of teaching reading and spelling based upon the phonetic interpretation of ordinary spelling.
2. Phonetics [Obs.] phonetics.

• phon- + -ics 1675–85

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

phonics / ˈfɒnɪks/ noun (functioning as singular)

1. an obsolete name for acoustics1
2. a method of teaching people to read by training them to associate letters with their phonetic values

ˈphonic adjective

ˈphonically adverb