the use of what was originally a logogram as a phonetic symbol for the initial sound of the word the logogram represented, as, in Semitic writing, the use of a picture of a shepherd's crook to represent the sound (l), the first sound of lamed, the Hebrew word for a shepherd's crook
2.
the use of a word as the name of the alphabetical symbol representing the initial sound of that word
[1880–85; acro- + -phony]This word is first recorded in the period 1880–85. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: Chief of Staff, automatism, barnstorm, interface, rain checkacro- is a combining form with the meanings “height,” “tip end,” “extremities of the body,”used in the formation of compound words. Other words that use the affix acro- include: acrobat, acrogen, acrolect, acropetal, acrospire; -phony is a combining form used in the formation of abstract nouns corresponding to nounsending in -phone. Other words that use the affix -phony include: apophony, heterophony, monophony, quadraphony, stereophony