telephone English · revision 5412

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1835|origins=grc τῆλε, grc φωνή}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈtel.ɪ.fəʊn/, US /ˈtel.ə.foʊn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|téléphone]], formed about 1830^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) [[af|grc|τῆλε|φωνή|tr1=têle|tr2=phōnḗ|t1=far|t2=sound, voice]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[phone]], [[telegraph]] and [[telescope]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In 1844 it was an instrument like a foghorn for signalling between ships,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and in 1849 a kind of megaphone.^(Barnhart 1988) The electrical apparatus was first described in modern form by Philip Reis (1861) and named so by him,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and Alexander Graham Bell, who developed it between 1873 and 1876, used the name from 1876.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The verb is from 1877–78.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The ''telephone book'' is attested by 1880, the ''telephone number'' by 1882, and the ''telephone box'' from 1880.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1835 – Sudré's musical system.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1844 – a ship's signal horn.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1876 – Bell's telephone.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1877 – verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1880 – ''telephone book''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A device for speaking to someone at a distance, using electrical signals or radio; a [[phone]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The system of communication using such devices.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To speak to someone by telephone; to call.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[telephoner]]

+ * [[phone]]

+ * [[pretelephone]]

+ * [[telephonic]]

+ * [[telephonist]]

+ * [[telephony]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[telegraph]]

+ * [[telescope]]

+ * [[television]]

+ * [[phonetic]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}