polyphone

P3O1L1Y4P3H4O1N1E1

noun

A letter, or combination of letters, that can be pronounced in two or more different ways

Similar
polyphonic letter
OriginEnglish phone ← Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s) ← Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús →
UncommonScrabble 19
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Meanings

nounpolyphone (plural polyphones)

plural polyphones

  1. A letter, or combination of letters, that can be pronounced in two or more different ways

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna letter that has two or more pronunciations

Similar
polyphonic letter
Broader
letterletter of the alphabetalphabetic character

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*polh₁ús
  3. Ancient Greekπολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)
  4. Englishpoly-
  5. Englishphone
  6. Englishpolyphone

From poly- + phone.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 多音字
  • 多音字 (duōyīnzì)polyphone
Japanese 多音語
  • 多音語 (taongo)polyphone
Polish polifon
  • polifonpolyphone

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

pleophony
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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