Phone Is a Shortening That Outlived Its Full Form
A phone is a device for speaking at a distance. The word is a clipped form of telephone, and the long version now sounds formal.
A phone is a device for talking to someone at a distance. The word is a clipping of *telephone*, from Greek *tele*, far, and *phone*, sound or voice — the full form now sounds either old-fashioned or deliberately formal. The same *phone* element appears in *microphone*, *megaphone*, *symphony*, *gramophone* and *phonetics*, all of them about sound. In linguistics a *phone* is also a single speech sound, unrelated to the device.
- A telephone. *Answer the phone.*
- To call someone. *Phone me later.*
- Mobile / cell phone. *A mobile phone.*
- A speech sound (linguistics). *A phone.*
- Greek — *phone*, voice. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | phone | A phone. |
| Verb | phone | Phone home. |
| Full form | telephone | Telephone. |
| Adjective | phonetic | Phonetic. |
| Greek | phone | Voice. |
- My phone is out of battery.Device.
- Phone me when you land.Verb.
- Tele plus phone means far sound.Etymology.
The phone family
- Telephone — far sound
- Microphone — small sound, a device to amplify
- Megaphone — great sound
- Symphony — sounding together
- Phonetics — the study of speech sounds
A shortening of *telephone*, from Greek *tele*, far off, plus *phone*, sound or voice.
Is phone short for telephone?
Yes. The clipped form has become the ordinary word, and the full telephone now sounds formal.
Are symphony and phone related?
Yes. Both contain Greek phone, sound; a symphony is literally sounding together.