soundex

S1O1U1N1D2E1X8

noun

A phonetic algorithm for indexing names by their English pronunciation, based on the most probably significant consonants, so that a search for a misspelled name may find the desired one.

Less commonScrabble 15
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Meanings

soundex1

nounsoundex (plural soundexes)

plural soundexes

  1. Alternative letter-case form of Soundex.

    The soundex algorithm is the most well-known phonetic algorithm.

    1999, Jon Orwant, Jarkko Hietaniemi, John Macdonald, Mastering Algorithms with Perl, O'Reilly, →ISBN, page 388

Soundex2

nounSoundex (plural Soundexes)

plural Soundexes · alternative SoundEx · alternative soundex

  1. computingA phonetic algorithm for indexing names by their English pronunciation, based on the most probably significant consonants, so that a search for a misspelled name may find the desired one.

    Basically, the Soundex algorithm converts each string into an alphanumeric code that begins with the first letter of the string.

    2022, Wallace Wang, Beginning Programming All-in-One For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 439
verbSoundex (third-person singular simple present Soundexes, present participle Soundexing, simple past and past participle Soundexed)

present singular third person Soundexes · participle present Soundexing · participle past Soundexed · past Soundexed · alternative SoundEx · alternative soundex

  1. transitivecomputingTo index using the phonetic Soundex algorithm.

Origin

Blend of sound + index.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

soundex. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soundex

MLA

“soundex.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soundex. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “soundex,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soundex.

Source: soundex on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.