Etymologically
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téléphoner

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /te.le.fɔ.ne/[1]

Forms

téléphoner[1]

Etymology

It is from French téléphone + -er.[2][3][4][1] The English verb is recorded from 1878.[2] téléphone was first a French coinage (1809) from Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “far off”) and φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound, voice”), on the model of télégraphe; it was later applied to Reis's apparatus (German Telefon, 1861) and, from 1876, taken from English telephone, the name of Bell's invention.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Albert Robida's Le Vingtième Siècle (1883) has téléphoner à quelqu'un de (do something), “to tell someone by telephone to”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Alphonse Daudet (1885, Tartarin sur les Alpes) uses it without an object, “to make a telephone call”, Courteline (1893) has it transitively, “to send by telephone”, and the past participle télégramme téléphoné is recorded in 1892.[2][4] The reciprocal se téléphoner appears in Maurois (1928).[2] Sports writers used téléphoné (1937) for a blow or attack that is too easily foreseen, after télégraphier in the same sense (1909); c'est téléphoné now means “that's too predictable”.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 1809 – téléphone coined in French.[2]
  • 1878 – English to telephone.[2]
  • 1883 – Téléphoner à quelqu'un de, Robida.[2]
  • 1885 – “To make a call”, Daudet.[2]
  • 1893 – Transitive, Courteline.[2]
  • 1928 – Se téléphoner, Maurois.[2]
  • 1937 – Attaques téléphonées, in L'Auto.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To telephone, call, ring: téléphoner à quelqu'un, téléphone-moi demain.[4][1]
  2. (transitive) To communicate by telephone: téléphoner une nouvelle à quelqu'un.[4][6]
  3. Se téléphoner: to call each other.[4][2]
  4. (figurative, sport) To telegraph, make obvious in advance, c'est téléphoné, it is all too predictable.[4][1]

Word family

  • retéléphoner

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse