Meanings
photophone1
plural photophones
- historicalA device that transmitted sound on a beam of light.
Arriving several years before the promulgation of effective electrical lighting, the photophone was completely dependent on clear skies to provide bright light to the reflector.
2018, James Bridle, “Computation”, in The New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future, Verso Books, →ISBN, page 19
photophone2
plural photophones
- datedA stills-only camera phone. Used to distinguish from video-capable camera cell phones and camera-less cell phones.
- A combination highly-capable digital camera and smartphone.
Origin
photophone · noun
From photo- (“light”) + -phone (“a device that makes a sound”).
Full word history & related roots →photophone · noun
From photo- (“photography”) + phone (“telephone”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
photophone. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/photophone
“photophone.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/photophone. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “photophone,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/photophone.
Source: photophone on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.