Phone By Etymonline - Meaning Of Suffix

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Origin and history of -phone

-phone

word-forming element meaning "voice, sound," also "speaker of," from Greek phōnē "voice, sound" of a human or animal, also "tone, voice, pronunciation, speech," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, say, tell" (source also of Latin for, fari "to speak," fama "talk, report").

Entries linking to -phone

anglophone(adj.)

"English-speaking," 1895, from Anglo- + -phone.

Dictaphone(n.)

dictation recording and reproduction machine, trademarked by the Columbia Graphophone Company in 1907; from dictation + -phone. A separate company from 1923.

• Francophone
• saxophone
• vibraphone
• *bha-
• See All Related Words (6)

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saxophonetype of modern metal musical instrument played through a reeded mouthpiece (originally meant as a more sonorous substitute for the clarinet in military bands), 1851, from French saxophone, named for Antoine Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (1814-1894), Belgian instrument maker who devised itphreak1972 (also as a verb), originally in phone phreak, one of a set of technically creative people who electronically hacked...The name "phone phreak" identified the enthisiasts with the common underground usage of freak as someone who was cool and...[New Scientist, Dec. 13, 1973] The ph- in phone may have suggested the alteration, and this seems to be the original of...mobileMobile phone is by 1983. A long-distance number tapped into an Illinois Bell car telephone glowed red on a display....Satisfied that the digits were correct, I pushed the SEND button on the phone....distractedIn later use it tends to especially refer to technological distractions, such as text messaging or talking on a mobile phone...phThe modern slang fad for replacing f- with ph- (as in phat) seems to date to the 1960s and phone phreak (see phreak), where...it might have been suggested by the spelling of (tele)phone....speakerSpeaker-phone, one without a hand-held receiver, is by 1955. Related: Speakership....dimeThe verb meaning "to inform" (on someone) is from the 1960s, from the then-cost of a pay-phone call....allegory"figurative treatment of an unmentioned subject under the guise of another similar to it in some way," late 14c., allegorie, from Old French allegorie (12c.), from Latin allegoria, from Greek allegoria "figurative language, description of one thing under the image of another," listymie1857, in golf, "put a player in the position where an opponent's ball is directly in the line of approach to the hole;" from stymie (n.) "condition in which an opponent's ball blocks the line of approach to the hole" (1834). It is of uncertain origin, perhaps from Scottish stymiemodesty1530s, "freedom from exaggeration, self-control," from French modestie or directly from Latin modestia "moderation, sense of honor, correctness of conduct," from modestus "moderate, keeping due measure, sober, gentle, temperate," from modus "measure, manner" (from PIE root *med-

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‘cite’Page URL:https://www.etymonline.com/word/-phoneCopyHTML Link:<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/-phone">Etymology of -phone by etymonline</a>CopyAPA Style:Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of -phone. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved January 7, 2026, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/-phoneCopyChicago Style:Harper Douglas, "Etymology of -phone," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed January 7, 2026, https://www.etymonline.com/word/-phone.CopyMLA Style:Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of -phone." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/-phone. Accessed 7 January, 2026.CopyIEEE Style:D. Harper. "Etymology of -phone." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/-phone (accessed January 7, 2026).CopyRemove AdsAdvertisement

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TrendingDictionary entries near -phone

• Phocis
• phoebe
• Phoebus
• Phoenician
• phoenix
• -phone
• phone
• phoneme
• phonemic
• phonetic
• phonetics

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