Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Phonautograph
Pho-nau′to-graph
,Noun.
[
Phono-
+ Gr. αὐτόσ
self + -graph
.] (Physics)
An instrument by means of which a sound can be made to produce a visible trace or record of itself. It consists essentially of a resonant vessel, usually of paraboloidal form, closed at one end by a flexible membrane. A stylus attached to some point of the membrane records the movements of the latter, as it vibrates, upon a moving cylinder or plate.
Definition 2024
phonautograph
phonautograph
English
Noun
phonautograph (plural phonautographs)
- One of the first phonographic recording devices, consisting of a horn or barrel focusing sound waves onto a membrane to which a hog's bristle was attached, causing the bristle to move so enabling it to inscribe a visual medium, which could transcribe sound to a visible medium but had no means to play back the sound after it was recorded.