Definition of "magneto" [mag•ne•to]

• A device that produces alternating current for distribution to the spark plugs, used in the ignition systems of some internal-combustion engines. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "As the use of this instrument as a transmitter has practically ceased, the term magneto telephone has lost its significance as applying to the receiver, and, since many telephones are equipped with magneto generators for calling purposes, the term magneto telephone has, by common consent, come to be used to designate any telephone including, as a part of its equipment, a magneto generator."
• "_ The term magneto telephone, as it was originally employed in telephony, referred to the type of instrument now known as"
• "The terms magneto-electric, magneto-generator, etc., involving the term "magneto," have come to imply the presence of _permanently_ magnetized steel as an element of the construction."