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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Phonograph \Pho"no*graph\, 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}.

Note: 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]