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telegraph

Etymology and origin of the English word telegraph

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1794
Borrowed from
French télégraphe
Ultimate origin
French (télégraphe)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈtel.ɪ.ɡrɑːf/, /ˈtel.ɪ.ɡræf/, US /ˈtel.ɪ.ɡræf/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French télégraphe,[2][3][4] from télé-, far (Greek tēle-), and -graphe, writer (see -graph), so “that which writes at a distance”.[2][3][5] The French word was suggested in 1792 by the diplomat Miot de Melito to replace tachygraphe, the name proposed by Claude Chappe, coinventor of the semaphore apparatus.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A semaphore apparatus for sending messages at a distance, with movable arms on a post: 1794.[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The name passed in 1797 to an experimental electric telegraph;[2][6] a practical one was developed by Samuel Morse in the 1830s and widely used in the 1840s.[2] A telegraph message, a telegram, is from 1821, now obsolete,[6] and a cricket scoreboard from 1849.[6] The verb, to send by telegraph, is from 1805;[3][4] its figurative sense, to signal one's intentions, is suggested by 1867, and in boxing, to give away one's next blow, by 1925.[3] Telegraphic is from 1794 and telegraphy from 1795.[2]

Timeline

  • 1794 – a semaphore telegraph; telegraphic.[2]
  • 1797 – an electric telegraph.[2][6]
  • 1805 – to telegraph (verb).[3][4]
  • 1849 – a cricket scoreboard.[6]
  • 1867 – to signal intentions.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A system for sending messages over a distance by coded electrical signals along a wire, or by radio.
  2. A message sent by telegraph; a telegram.

Verb

  1. To send a message by telegraph.
  2. To give away one's feelings or intentions by unspoken signs.

Word family

  • telegrapher
  • telegraphist
  • pretelegraph
  • radiotelegraph
  • telegraphese
  • telegraphic

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Telegraph.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/telegraph. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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