telefono Italian · revision 37743

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1878, Nonnis-Marzano|origins=grc τῆλε, grc φωνή}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /teˈlɛ.fo.no/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''telefono''' ''m'' (plural telefoni)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|téléphone]], a learned compound of [[grc|τῆλε|tr=têle|t=far off]] and [[m|grc|φωνή|tr=phōnḗ|t=voice, sound]], which spread through the English word [[m|en|telephone]] after Alexander Graham Bell's patent.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) GRADIT and Wiktionary analyse it as an Italian compound of [[tele-]] and [[-fono]], modelled on the English and French words.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) GRADIT dates the English word from 1866.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ Prati notes that the French word (1834) was first the name Sudré gave to his acoustic signalling system, and was then applied to Bell's apparatus of 1876, which Antonio Meucci had invented earlier.^(Prati 1951|983) The Greek element had already formed [[telescopio]] in 1611, the model for the modern compounds.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the title of Francesco Nonnis-Marzano's ''Descrizione ed uso del telefono'' (Sassari, 1878), for the apparatus that carries the voice at a distance by electric current.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Derivatives followed quickly: ''telefonico'' and ''telefonista'' in 1882, ''telefonare'' by 1886, when Rigutini noted that the verb had recently arisen in Tuscany, and ''telefonata'' in 1918.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) ''Telefonia'' is older, from 1829, when it meant speaking from afar by raising the voice or with a speaking-trumpet.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The word came to mean the apparatus, the service and the telephone system as a whole, and also a telephone number (''mi dai il tuo telefono?'').^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The mobile telephone is ''telefono cellulare'', colloquially ''telefonino'' (1991).^(Treccani 2011)^(Nocentini 2010) In the itinerants' slang Prati records, the telephone was ''orecchione''.^(Prati 1951|983)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1829 – ''Telefonia'' is recorded in the sense “speaking from afar”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1834 – French ''téléphone'' is used by Sudré for his acoustic system.^(Prati 1951|983)

+ * 1866 – English ''telephone'' is recorded.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1878 – Nonnis-Marzano's ''Descrizione ed uso del telefono'' is published at Sassari.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1882 – ''Telefonico'' and ''telefonista'' appear.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1886 – ''Telefonare'' is noted as a new word in Tuscany.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1991 – ''Telefonino'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|telephone]], the system that carries the voice at a distance by turning sound into electric signals; the apparatus with a receiver and a [[m|en|microphone]]: ''Rispondi al telefono!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The telephone line and service of a home or office, including its bill.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Telephony, telephone communication as a whole: ''la storia del telefono''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(elliptical)'' A telephone number.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[telefonare]]

+ * [[telefonata]]

+ * [[telefonico]]

+ * [[telefonino]]

+ * [[telefonista]]

+ * [[telefonia]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tele-]]

+ * [[fr|téléphone]]

+ * [[en|telephone]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fixed phrases include ''numero di telefono'', ''colpo di telefono'' (a short call, after French ''coup de téléphone''), ''telefono cellulare'', ''telefono pubblico'' and ''telefono rosso'', the hot line.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}