| Phonograph | n. [ Phono- + -graph. ] 1. A character or symbol used to represent a sound, esp. one used in phonography. [ archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ] 2. (Physics) An instrument for the mechanical registration and reproduction of audible sounds, as articulate speech, etc. An early simple version consisted of a rotating cylinder or disk covered with some material easily indented, as tinfoil, wax, paraffin, etc., above which is a thin plate carrying a stylus. As the plate vibrates under the influence of a sound, the stylus makes minute indentations or undulations in the soft material, and these, when the cylinder or disk is again turned, set the plate in vibration, and reproduce the sound. Modern versions use electronic circuitry and various more stable recording media to record sound more accurately. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ] 3. An instrument for reproducing sounds, especially music, previously recorded on a plastic cylinder or disk as a pattern of bumps or wiggles in a groove. A needle (stylus) held in the groove is made to vibrate by motion (rotation) of the recording, and the vibrations caused by the bumps and wiggles are transmitted directly to a membrane, or first transduced into electrical impulses and sent to an electronic amplifier circuit, thereby reproducing with greater or less fidelity the original sounds. A phonograph which is equipped with electronics enabling the playback of sound with high fidelity to the original is often called a hi-fi. In the 1990's such devices are beginning to be replaced in many homes by compact disk players; the production of plastic recordings of music for playback on a phonograph has almost ceased for entertainment purposes. [ PJC ] |
| Phonographer | n. 1. One versed or skilled in phonography. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. One who uses, or is skilled in the use of, the phonograph. See Phonograph, 2. [ 1913 Webster ] |
| Phonography | n. [ Phono- + -graphy. ] 1. A description of the laws of the human voice, or sounds uttered by the organs of speech. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. A representation of sounds by distinctive characters; commonly, a system of shorthand writing invented by Isaac Pitman, or a modification of his system, much used by reporters. [ 1913 Webster ] ☞ The consonants are represented by straight lines and curves; the vowels by dots and short dashes; but by skilled phonographers, in rapid work, most vowel marks are omitted, and brief symbols for common words and combinations of words are extensively employed. The following line is an example of phonography, in which all the sounds are indicated: -- [ 1913 Webster ] [ 1913 Webster ] They also serve who only stand and wait. Milton. 3. The art of constructing, or using, the phonograph. [ 1913 Webster ] |
