gramophone

Etymology

It was coined in 1887 as a trademark by the German-born American inventor Emile Berliner,^[1][2] as an inversion of phonogram (1884), the tracing made by a phonograph needle.^[3][1][4][5] This was formed from Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “voice, sound”) and γράμμα (grámma, “something written”) (see -gram).^[1][2] It was preceded by graphophone, from phonograph.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An instrument for reproducing recorded sound, using a flat disc instead of a cylinder (1887 in the OED, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster).^[6][3][7]

Semantic evolution

Berliner's machine, with its flat disc, succeeded with the public, while Edison's cylinder phonograph did not.^[1][6] Purists disliked the word: Weekley called it “an atrocity”.^[8][1] The verb, to record or reproduce by gramophone, is from 1908.^[6] In British use gramophone remained the usual word where Americans said phonograph,^[9] and it now mostly means the old type with a clockwork motor and horn.^[9]

Timeline

• 1884 – phonogram, a phonograph tracing.^[3][1]
• 1887 – Gramophone, Berliner's trademark.^[6][3][7]
• 1908 – verb, to record or reproduce by gramophone.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A machine that reproduces sound from a grooved disc; a record player or phonograph, especially the old type with a clockwork motor and horn.
2. The technique and practice of recording sound on disc.

Word family

• gramophonically
• radiogram

Related words

• phonograph
• phonogram
• telephone
• -gram
• grammar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
2. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins