Definition of: phonetic

(fə·net′ik) adjective
1. Of or pertaining to phonetics, or to speech sounds and their production.
2. Representing articulate sounds or speech; specifically, designating the representation of each speech sound by a distinct character, or by a distinctive spelling or mark: phonetic alphabet, phonetic spelling. Also pho·net′i·cal. [<Gk. phōnētikos <phōnē sound]
—pho·net′i·cal·ly adverb