telephone
Pronunciation
- IPA: UK /ˈtel.ɪ.fəʊn/, US /ˈtel.ə.foʊn/[1]
Etymology
It is borrowed from French téléphone, formed about 1830[2][3] from Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “far”) + φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound, voice”).[2][3] It is related to phone, telegraph and telescope.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
A system for sending words to a distant point by musical notes: 1835, of a system devised in 1828 by the French composer Jean-François Sudré, which never proved practical.[2][4]
Semantic evolution
In 1844 it was an instrument like a foghorn for signalling between ships,[3][2] and in 1849 a kind of megaphone.[3] The electrical apparatus was first described in modern form by Philip Reis (1861) and named so by him,[2][4] and Alexander Graham Bell, who developed it between 1873 and 1876, used the name from 1876.[3][2][4] The verb is from 1877–78.[3][2][4] The telephone book is attested by 1880, the telephone number by 1882, and the telephone box from 1880.[2]
Timeline
- 1835 – Sudré's musical system.[2]
- 1844 – a ship's signal horn.[3]
- 1876 – Bell's telephone.[3][4]
- 1877 – verb.[3]
- 1880 – telephone book.[2]
Modern meaning
Noun
- A device for speaking to someone at a distance, using electrical signals or radio; a phone.
- The system of communication using such devices.
Verb
- To speak to someone by telephone; to call.
Word family
- telephoner
- phone
- pretelephone
- telephonic
- telephonist
- telephony
Related words
- telegraph
- telescope
- television
- phonetic
References
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press