English Explanatory Dictionary

phone

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. 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.
  2. A person's telephone number (as a means of contact); digits.
verb
  1. To call (someone) using a telephone.
noun
  1. A speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties, considered as a physical event without regard to its place in the phonology of a language.

Pronunciation

/ˈfəʊ̯n/ en-uk-phone.ogg /ˈfoʊ̯n/ /ˈfɔʊ̯n/ en-us-phone.ogg /ˈfəʉn/ /ˈfɐ̝ʉn/ /ˈfon/ /ˈfoːn/

Word forms

phone phones 'phone phoning phoned

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-der. Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle)lbor. French télé- Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂-der. Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ)der. French -phone French téléphonebor. English telephone English phone Clipping of telephone; first attested in 1884.

Synonyms

phone telephone blower pipe Ameche dog and bone horn call phone up ring

Related words

phoneme phonetic phonetically phonetics phonology

Derived words

airphone answer phone bag phone banana phone bar phone basic phone batphone bat phone bat-phone brick phone burner phone burn phone buzzer phone camera phone cameraphone camphone candlestick phone candy bar phone can I use your phone cardphone car phone car-phone carphone cell-phone cell phone lot cellular phone computerphone cordless phone cryptophone dataphone deskphone diaphone diphone door phone doorphone dumbphone earphone entry phone entryphone entry-phone eyephone featurephone feature phone flip-phone freephone Googlephone handphone have more chins than a Chinese phone book headphone hold the phone home phone house phone housephone interphone iPhone isophone Jesus phone keyphone miniphone money phone
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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