gramophone English · revision 1406

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=coinage|attested=1887}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was coined in 1887 as a trademark by the German-born American inventor Emile Berliner,^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) as an inversion of [[phonogram]] (1884), the tracing made by a phonograph needle.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(RHWU) This was formed from [[grc|φωνή|tr=phōnḗ|t=voice, sound]] and [[m|grc|γράμμα|tr=grámma|t=something written]] (see [[-gram]]).^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) It was preceded by [[m|en|graphophone]], from [[phonograph]].^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==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).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Berliner's machine, with its flat disc, succeeded with the public, while Edison's cylinder [[phonograph]] did not.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Purists disliked the word: Weekley called it “an atrocity”.^(Weekley 1921)^(Etymonline) The verb, to record or reproduce by gramophone, is from 1908.^(OED 1989) In British use ''gramophone'' remained the usual word where Americans said ''phonograph'',^(Collins 2023) and it now mostly means the old type with a clockwork motor and horn.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1884 – ''phonogram'', a phonograph tracing.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1887 – ''Gramophone'', Berliner's trademark.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1908 – verb, to record or reproduce by gramophone.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A machine that reproduces sound from a grooved disc; a [[record player]] or [[phonograph]], especially the old type with a [[clockwork]] motor and horn.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The technique and practice of recording sound on disc.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gramophonically]]

+ * [[radiogram]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[phonograph]]

+ * [[phonogram]]

+ * [[telephone]]

+ * [[-gram]]

+ * [[grammar]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}