International Phonetic Alphabet

noun
1.
the set of symbols and modifiers designed, principally on the basis of articulatory considerations, to provide a consistent and universally understood system for transcribing the speech sounds of any language: devised by the International Phonetic Association.
Abbreviation: IPA, I.P.A.
Origin
1895-1900
British Dictionary definitions for International Phonetic Alphabet

International Phonetic Alphabet

noun
1.
a series of signs and letters propagated by the Association Phonétique Internationale for the representation of human speech sounds. It is based on the Roman alphabet but supplemented by modified signs or symbols from other writing systems, and is usually employed in its revised form of 1951 IPA
International Phonetic Alphabet in Technology

text, human language
(IPA) A system of symbols for representing pronunciation. There is no commonly agreed way to represent IPA in ASCII characters though it can be represented in Unicode.
[Reference?]
(1998-12-30)