acrophony
(æˈkrɒfənɪ)
[mod. f. Gr. ἄκρο- (see acro-) + -ϕωνία voice, sound.]
The sound of the initial; the use of what was originally a picture-symbol or hieroglyph of an object to represent phonetically the initial syllable or sound of the name of the object; e.g. employing the symbol of an ox, ‘aleph,’ to represent the syllable or letter a.
| 1880 R. S. Poole in Encycl. Brit. IV. 808 The Phœnician letters had names indicating an origin from a hieroglyphic system on the same principle of acrophony. |