Etymology

phone

P3H4O1N1E1

Today it means: A device for transmitting conversations and other sounds in real time across distances, now often a small portable unit also capable of running software etc. Full definition →

English telephoneclip. ← French téléphone ← Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ)
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phone · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-
  2. Ancient Greekτῆλε (têle)
  3. Frenchtélé-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  5. Proto-Hellenic*pʰōnā́
  6. Ancient Greekφωνή (phōnḗ)
  7. Frenchtéléphone
  8. Englishtelephoneclip.
  9. English todayphone

Clipping of telephone; first attested in 1884.

phone · noun2

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  2. Proto-Hellenic*pʰōnā́
  3. Ancient Greekφωνή (phōnḗ)
  4. English todayphone

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.