telephone

A1 Topic:Tools, Machines & Construction

US /ˈtɛləˌfoʊn/ UK /ˈtɛlɪfəʊn/ See IPA manual

Freq #1972

Meanings

1

noun
A device used to talk with someone over a distance by converting sound into electrical signals.

I talked to my mother on the telephone last night.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a device used to talk with... phone

More call ring

Word family

Forms telephonedtelephonestelephoning

Derived forms antitelephonephonepretelephoneretelephonetelcotelemarketingtelephonabletelephone-belltelephonedtelephonelesstelephoneliketelephoner

Appears in

Phrases (2)

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Etymology

The noun is derived from tele- (prefix meaning ‘from a distance’) + -phone (suffix denoting a device which makes a sound), modelled after German Telephon (“early apparatus converting sound into electrical signals”) (dated) (now German Telefon). The word was first used to refer to the modern device in 1876 by the Scottish-born Canadian-American engineer Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922). The prefix tele- is ultimately derived from Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “afar, far away, far off”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- (“to turn end-over-end; to revolve around; hence, to dwell, sojourn”). The suf…

τῆλε Ancient Greek *kʷelh₁- Proto-Indo-European φωνή Ancient Greek *bʰeh₂- Proto-Indo-European téléphone French

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Topics

Tools, Machines & Construction

External links

# telephone

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈtɛləˌfoʊn/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtɛlɪfəʊn/
**Frequency rank:** 1972

## Meanings
1. A device used to talk with someone over a distance by converting sound into electrical signals.

## Examples
- I talked to my mother on the telephone last night.

## Synonyms
- call
- phone
- ring

## Derived Forms
- antitelephone
- phone
- pretelephone
- retelephone
- telco
- telemarketing
- telephonable
- telephone-bell
- telephoned
- telephoneless
- telephonelike
- telephoner

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: τῆλε
- Root: *kʷelh₁-
- Root: φωνή
- Root: *bʰeh₂-
- Root: téléphone
- Affix: tele- - far
- Affix: -phone - sound

## Etymology
The noun is derived from tele- (prefix meaning ‘from a distance’) + -phone (suffix denoting a device which makes a sound), modelled after German Telephon (“early apparatus converting sound into electrical signals”) (dated) (now German Telefon). The word was first used to refer to the modern device in 1876 by the Scottish-born Canadian-American engineer Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922). The prefix tele- is ultimately derived from Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “afar, far away, far off”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- (“to turn end-over-end; to revolve around; hence, to dwell, sojourn”). The suf…

## AI Etymology
Telephone The noun is derived from tele- (prefix meaning ‘from a distance’) + -phone (suffix denoting a device which makes a sound), modelled after German Telephon (“early apparatus converting sound into electrical signals”) (dated) (now German Telefon). The word was first used to refer to the modern device in 1876 by the Scottish-born Canadian-American engineer Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922). The prefix tele- is ultimately derived from Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “afar, far away, far off”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- (“to turn end-over-end; to revolve around; hence, to dwell, sojourn”).

## Topics
- Tools, Machines & Construction

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