microphone

Etymology

It is formed from English micro- + -phone,^[2][3][4][5] after microscope,^[2][6] from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”) and φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound, voice”),^[7][8] from Proto-Indo-European *bha- (“to speak”).^[7] The idea was an instrument that made small sounds louder.^[7][6] The modern sense was partly modelled on telephone.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

An instrument such as an ear trumpet that made faint sounds audible: 1684 in the OED, from Bishop Narcissus Marsh in the Philosophical Transactions,^[2] 1683 in Barnhart.^[5][9]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was obsolete by 1880.^[2] In 1878 D. E. Hughes gave the name to a telephone transmitter that amplified faint sounds,^[2][5] and the word passed to any device that turns sound waves into electrical signals;^[2][7] by 1924 it was used in radio broadcasting and film recording.^[7][5] The short form mike dates from 1924, and mic from 1961.^[7]

Timeline

• 1683 – an ear trumpet for the hard of hearing (Barnhart; the OED has 1684).^[5][2]
• 1878 – a telephone transmitter that amplifies faint sounds.^[2][4][5]
• 1924 – in radio broadcasting and film recording; the short form mike.^[7]
• 1961 – the short form mic.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A device that converts sound waves into an electric current or voltage, so that the sound can be amplified, recorded or transmitted: The singer tapped the microphone before she began.
2. (obsolete) An instrument, such as an ear trumpet, for making faint sounds louder.

Verb

1. To transmit by microphone.

Word family

• microphonic
• microphonics
• lavalier microphone
• ribbon microphone
• shotgun microphone
• throat microphone

Related words

• mike
• mic
• microscope
• telephone
• megaphone
• phonetic

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins