Definitions for telephone
ˈtɛl əˌfoʊntele·phone

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. telephone, phone, telephone setnoun

   electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds

   "I talked to him on the telephone"

2. telephone, telephonyverb

   transmitting speech at a distance

3. call, telephone, call up, phone, ringverb

   get or try to get into communication (with someone) by telephone

   "I tried to call you all night"; "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning"

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.4 / 5 votes

1. telephonenoun

   An electronic device used for two-way talking with other people (often shortened to phone).

2. telephoneverb

   To contact someone by dialing his or her telephone number; to make someone's telephone ring using one's own telephone.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Telephone

   A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into electronic signals that are transmitted via cables and other communication channels to another telephone which reproduces the sound to the receiving user. The term is derived from Greek: τῆλε (tēle, far) and φωνή (phōnē, voice), together meaning distant voice. A common short form of the term is phone, which came into use early in the telephone's history.In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be granted a United States patent for a device that produced clearly intelligible replication of the human voice at a second device. This instrument was further developed by many others, and became rapidly indispensable in business, government, and in households. The essential elements of a telephone are a microphone (transmitter) to speak into and an earphone (receiver) which reproduces the voice at a distant location. The receiver and transmitter are usually built into a handset which is held up to the ear and mouth during conversation. The transmitter converts the sound waves to electrical signals which are sent through the telecommunication system to the receiving telephone, which converts the signals into audible sound in the receiver or sometimes a loudspeaker. Telephones permit transmission in both directions simultaneously. Most telephones also contain an alerting feature, such as a ringer or a visual indicator, to announce an incoming telephone call. Telephone calls are initiated most commonly with a keypad or dial, affixed to the telephone, to enter a telephone number, which is the address of the call recipient's telephone in the telecommunication system, but other methods existed in the early history of the telephone. The first telephones were directly connected to each other from one customer's office or residence to another customer's location. Being impractical beyond just a few customers, these systems were quickly replaced by manually operated centrally located switchboards. These exchanges were soon connected together, eventually forming an automated, worldwide public switched telephone network. For greater mobility, various radio systems were developed for transmission between mobile stations on ships and automobiles in the mid-20th century. Hand-held mobile phones were introduced for personal service starting in 1973. In later decades, their analog cellular system evolved into digital networks with greater capability and lower cost. Convergence in communication services has provided a broad spectrum of capabilities in cell phones, including mobile computing, giving rise to the smartphone, the dominant type of telephone in the world today.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. telephone

   A telephone is a communication device designed to transmit and receive sound, most commonly the human voice. It allows two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be heard directly. The device converts acoustic signals into electronic ones and vice versa, through a telephone network, enabling any user with a device to communicate with any other. Modern smartphones have expanded this function to include digital messaging, internet access, and other multimedia functions.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Telephonenoun

   an instrument for reproducing sounds, especially articulate speech, at a distance

2. Telephoneverb

   to convey or announce by telephone

WikidataRate this definition:4.5 / 2 votes

1. Telephone

   A telephone, or phone, is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are not in the same vicinity of each other to be heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into electronic signals suitable for transmission via cables or other transmission media over long distances, and replays such signals simultaneously in audible form to its user. The word telephone has been adapted into the vocabulary of many languages. It is derived from the Greek: τῆλε, tēle, far and φωνή, phōnē, voice, together meaning distant voice. First patented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell and further developed by many others, the telephone was the first device in history that enabled people to talk directly with each other across large distances. Telephones became rapidly indispensable to businesses, government, and households, and are today some of the most widely used small appliances. The essential elements of a telephone are a microphone to speak into and an earphone which reproduces the voice of the distant person. In addition, most telephones contain a ringer which produces a sound to announce an incoming telephone call, and a dial used to enter a telephone number when initiating a call to another telephone. Until approximately the 1970s most telephones used a rotary dial, which was superseded by the modern Touch-Tone push-button dial, first introduced by AT&T in 1963. The receiver and transmitter are usually built into a handset which is held up to the ear and mouth during conversation. The dial may be located either on the handset, or on a base unit to which the handset is connected by a cord containing wires.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Telephone

   tel′e-fōn, n. an instrument for reproducing sound at a distance over a conducting wire or cord, esp. by means of electricity.—v.t. and v.i. to communicate by telephone.—n. Tel′ephōner, one who uses a telephone.—adj. Telephon′ic.—adv. Telephon′ically.—ns. Tel′ephōnist, one who uses the telephone, one skilled in its use; Telephō′nograph, an apparatus for recording a telephone message.—adj. Telephonograph′ic.—n. Tel′ephony, the art of telephoning. [Gr. tēle, far, phōnē, a sound.]

U.S. National Library of MedicineRate this definition:4.0 / 2 votes

1. Telephone

   An instrument for reproducing sounds especially articulate speech at a distance. (Webster, 3rd ed)

The Standard Electrical DictionaryRate this definition:4.0 / 1 vote

1. Telephone

   An instrument for the transmission of articulate speech by the electric current. The current is defined as of the undulatory type. (See Current, Undulatory.) The cut shows what may be termed the fundamental telephone circuit. A line wire is shown terminating in ground plates and with a telephone in circuit at each end. The latter consists of a magnet N S with a coil of insulated wire H surrounding one end. Facing the pole of the magnet is a soft iron diaphragm D, held in a frame or mouthpiece T. Any change of current in the line affects the magnetism of the magnet, causing it to attract the diaphragm more or less. The magnet and diaphragm really constitute a little electric motor, the diaphragm vibrating back and forth through an exceedingly short range, for changes in the magnetic attraction. The principle of the reversibility of the dynamo applies here. If the magnet is subjected to no change in magnetism, and if the diaphragm is moved or vibrated in front of its poles, currents will be induced in the wire bobbin which surrounds its end. If two such magnets with bobbins and diaphragms are arranged as shown, vibrations imparted to one diaphragm will send currents through the line which, affecting the magnetism of the distant magnet, will cause its diaphragm to vibrate in exact accordance with the motions of the first or motor diaphragm. In the combination one telephone represents a dynamo, the other a motor. If the vibrations of the diaphragm are imparted by the voice, the voice with all its modulations will be reproduced by the telephone at the distant end of the line.

The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon WurdzRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. TELEPHONE

   From Eng. _tell_, to talk, and Grk. _phonos_, murder. A machine in which talk is murdered.

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. telephone

   An instrument for reproducing sounds, especially articulate speech, at a distance, by the aid of electricity or electro-magnetism. It consists essentially of a device by which currents of electricity, produced by the sounds, and exactly corresponding in duration and intensity to the vibrations of the air which attend them, are transmitted to a distant station, and there, acting on suitable mechanism, reproduce similar sounds by repeating the vibrations. Telephones were recently used by Sir Garnet Wolseley in the war in Zululand, and are being rapidly adopted in European armies.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. telephone

   A type of device created and designed for people and systems to communicate, transmit, hear and speak using equipment and technology.

   A telephone in 2020 can be a hand held device or online technological tool or piece of software.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on February 11, 2020  

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. telephone

   The telephone symbol -- In this Symbols.com article you will learn about the meaning of the telephone symbol and its characteristic.

2. telephone

   Song lyrics by telephone -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by telephone on the Lyrics.com website.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'telephone' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1618

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'telephone' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1297

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'telephone' in Nouns Frequency: #656

4. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'telephone' in Verbs Frequency: #662

Anagrams for telephone »

1. phenetole

How to pronounce telephone?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say telephone in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of telephone in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of telephone in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of telephone in a Sentence

1. William Tong:

   We have emails, text messages, telephone records, and former company insiders that we believe will prove a multi-year conspiracy to fix prices and divide market share for huge numbers of generic drugs, we will not stop until these companies and the individuals who orchestrated these schemes are held accountable.

2. Police Chris Dawson:

   The reason police went to the property was from a telephone call which we've recorded.

3. Boulder OEM:

   Xcel Energy has been a very responsive and invaluable partner. At this point, they have inspected all of their lines within the ignition area and found no downed power lines, they did find some compromised communication lines that may have been misidentified as power lines. Typically, communications lines( telephone, cable, internet, etc.) would not be the cause of a fire.

4. Michael Rogers:

   Three definite hits: biometrics, large screen home displays, video telephone calls, skype and FaceTime are part of everyday usage; by the end of the decade I think it will be totally natural for younger users to transition from text to audio to video in a single call, depending on the content at the moment.

5. Jimmy Morales:

   We are going to give (the telephone companies) school and government walls to paint their brand logos on to compensate them.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=telephone
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Telephone
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/telephone
6. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=telephone
7. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=telephone
8. ^ The Standard Electrical Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/26535/pg26535-images.html#:~:text=telephone
9. ^ The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1989/pg1989-images.html#:~:text=telephone
10. ^ Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
    https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/59563/pg59563-images.html