phone

noun
/ˈfəʊ̯n/UK/ˈfoʊ̯n/CA/ˈfəʉn/

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.

  1. derived from φωνή — “sound

Definitions

  1. A device for transmitting conversations and other sounds in real time across distances,…

    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.

    • Daragh's on the phone at the moment. He'll call you when he's finished.
    • My phone ran out of battery.
    • There's an old-fashioned phone in the doctor's waiting room - it doesn't work anymore, of course.
  2. A person's telephone number (as a means of contact)

    A person's telephone number (as a means of contact); digits.

    • It was a clear black night, a clear white moon / Warren G was on the streets tryin' to consume / Some skirts for the eve so I can get some phones / Rollin' in my ride, chillin' all alone
  3. To call (someone) using a telephone.

    • Phone me as soon as you land at the airport.
    • Her father told her to phone him to pick her up in case it started raining heavily.
    • "You bloody fools!" shrieked Nickle, stung by a sudden dreadful inspiration, "we've let him phone. He has got through!"
  4. + 1 more definition
    1. A speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties, considered as…

      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.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at phone. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01phone02portable03hardware04motherboard05keyboard06piano07percussive

A definitional loop anchored at phone. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at phone

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA