Phrase guide

mobile phone

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Canada: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A portable telephone (for example, one installed in a car) that connects with the telephone network, typically by means of radio transmissions.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mobile telephone, portable phone, portable telephone, radio telephone, radio-telephone, radiotelephone

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: phone, telephone

2

noun

Meaning 2

A portable (handheld) telephone that connects with the cellular telephone network.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cell, cell phone, cellular, cellular mobile, cellular phone, cellular telephone, cellphone//handphone, mobile, mobile telephone

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: phone, telephone

3

noun

Meaning 3

a hand-held mobile radiotelephone for use in an area divided into small sections, each with its own short-range transmitter/receiver

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cellular telephone, cellular phone, cellphone, cell

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: radiotelephone, radiophone, wireless telephone

History

Etymology

From mobile + phone.

Across languages

Translations

306 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: selfoon — cellular telephone
  • Afrikaans: sellulêre telefoon — cellular telephone
  • Albanian: telefón celulár — cellular telephone
  • Albanian: telefóni celulár — cellular telephone
  • Albanian: celulár — cellular telephone
  • Albanian: celulári — cellular telephone
  • Amharic: ነፋስ ስልክ (näfas səlk) — cellular telephone
  • Amharic: ተንቀሳቃሽ ስልክ (tänḳäsaḳaš səlk) — cellular telephone
  • Amharic: ሞባይል ስልክ (mobayl səlk) — cellular telephone
  • Arabic: جَوَّال (jawwāl) — cellular telephone
  • Arabic: هَاتِف مَحْمُول (hātif maḥmūl) — cellular telephone
  • Arabic: هَاتِف خَلَوِيّ (hātif ḵalawiyy) — cellular telephone
  • Arabic: هَاتِف نَقَّال (hātif naqqāl) — cellular telephone
  • Arabic: مُوبَيْل (mūbayl) — cellular telephone
  • Arabic: موبايل (mōbāyl) — cellular telephone
  • Arabic: جَوَّال (jawwāl) — cellular telephone
  • Arabic: بورطابل (pūrṭābl) — cellular telephone
  • Arabic: تلفون (tilifūn) — cellular telephone
  • Arabic: تلفون (tilifōn) — cellular telephone
  • Arabic: بلفون (bilifōn) — cellular telephone
  • Arabic: خلوي (ḵalawi) — cellular telephone
  • Armenian: բջջային հեռախոս (bǰǰayin heṙaxos) — cellular telephone
  • Armenian: բջջային (bǰǰayin) — cellular telephone
  • Assamese: ম’বাইল ফোন (möbail phün) — cellular telephone
  • Azerbaijani: mobil telefon — cellular telephone
  • Bashkir: кеҫә телефоны (keśə telefonı) — cellular telephone
  • Basque: telefono mugikor — cellular telephone
  • Basque: sakelako telefono — cellular telephone
  • Basque: mobil — cellular telephone
  • Belarusian: мабі́льны тэлефо́н (mabílʹny teljefón) — cellular telephone
  • Belarusian: со́тавы тэлефо́н (sótavy teljefón) — cellular telephone
  • Belarusian: мабі́льнік (mabílʹnik) — cellular telephone
  • Bengali: মোবাইল ফোন (mōbail phōn) — cellular telephone
  • Bengali: মোবাইল (mōbail) — cellular telephone
  • Bengali: মুঠোফোন (muṭhōphōn) — cellular telephone
  • Bulgarian: моби́лен телефо́н (mobílen telefón) — cellular telephone
  • Bulgarian: кле́тъчен телефо́н (klétǎčen telefón) — cellular telephone
  • Bulgarian: преноси́м телефо́н (prenosím telefón) — cellular telephone
  • Bulgarian: мобифо́н (mobifón) — cellular telephone
  • Burmese: မိုဘိုင်းလ်ဖုန်း (muibhuing:lhpun:) — cellular telephone
  • Catalan: telèfon mòbil — cellular telephone
  • Catalan: mòbil — cellular telephone
  • Chinese Cantonese: 手提電話 /手提电话 — cellular telephone
  • Chinese Cantonese: 手機 /手机 (sau2 gei1) — cellular telephone
  • Chinese Cantonese: 流動電話 /流动电话 (formal/technical) — cellular telephone
  • Chinese Cantonese: 大哥大 (daai6 go1 daai6) — cellular telephone
  • Chinese: шуҗи (šuji) — cellular telephone
  • Eastern Min Chinese: 手機 /手机 (chiū-gĭ) — cellular telephone
  • Hakka Chinese: 手機仔 /手机仔 (sú-kî-é) — cellular telephone
  • Hakka Chinese: 行動電話 /行动电话 (hàng-thung thien-fa, hàng-thûng thien-fa) — cellular telephone
  • Chinese: 手機仔 /手机仔 (zh-min-nan) — cellular telephone
  • Chinese: 手機 /手机 (chhiú-ki) — cellular telephone
  • Chinese: 行動電話 /行动电话 (hêng-tōng tiān-ōe) — cellular telephone
  • Chinese Mandarin: 手機 /手机 (shǒujī) — cellular telephone
  • Chinese Mandarin: 手提電話 /手提电话 (shǒutí diànhuà) — cellular telephone
  • Chinese Mandarin: 移動電話 /移动电话 (yídòng diànhuà) — cellular telephone
  • Chinese Mandarin: 行動電話 /行动电话 (xíngdòng diànhuà) — cellular telephone
  • Chinese Mandarin: 大哥大 (dàgēdà) — cellular telephone
  • Wu Chinese: 手機 /手机 (5seu-ci1) — cellular telephone
  • Cornish: klapkodh — cellular telephone
  • Cornish: pellgowsel — cellular telephone
  • Cornish: kellgowser — cellular telephone
  • Czech: mobilní telefon — cellular telephone
  • Czech: mobil — cellular telephone
  • Danish: mobiltelefon — cellular telephone
  • Danish: mobil — cellular telephone
  • Dutch: mobiele telefoon — cellular telephone
  • Dutch: gsm — cellular telephone
  • Dutch: mobieltje — cellular telephone
  • Dzongkha: འགྲུལ་འཕྲིན། ('grul 'phrin) — cellular telephone
  • Dzongkha: བརྒྱུད་འཕྲིན (brgyud 'phrin) — cellular telephone
  • Esperanto: poŝtelefono — cellular telephone
  • Estonian: mobiiltelefon — cellular telephone
  • Faroese: fartelefon — cellular telephone
  • Finnish: matkapuhelin — cellular telephone
  • Finnish: kännykkä — cellular telephone
  • Finnish: kapula — cellular telephone
  • French: téléphone mobile — cellular telephone
  • French: mobile — cellular telephone
  • French: téléphone portable m portable — cellular telephone
  • French: GSM — cellular telephone
  • French: téléphone cellulaire — cellular telephone
  • French: cellulaire — cellular telephone
  • French: natel — cellular telephone
  • Galician: teléfono móbil — cellular telephone
  • Galician: móbil — cellular telephone
  • Georgian: მობილური (mobiluri) — cellular telephone
  • Georgian: მობილური ტელეფონი (mobiluri ṭeleponi) — cellular telephone
  • German: Mobiltelefon — cellular telephone
  • German: Funktelefon — cellular telephone
  • German: Handy — cellular telephone
  • German: Natel — cellular telephone
  • Greek: κινητό τηλέφωνο (kinitó tiléfono) — cellular telephone
  • Greek: κινητό (kinitó) — cellular telephone
  • Greenlandic: mobili — cellular telephone
  • Greenlandic: oqarasuaat nassartariaq — cellular telephone
  • Greenlandic: oqarasuaat angallattagaq — cellular telephone
  • Gujarati: મોબાઈલ (mobāīla) — cellular telephone
  • Gujarati: મોબાઇલ ફોન (mobāila phon) — cellular telephone
  • Hebrew: טֶלֶפוֹן סֶלוּלָרי (télefon selulári) — cellular telephone
  • Hebrew: טלפון נייד — cellular telephone
  • Hebrew: טֶלֶפוֹן נַיָּד (télefon nayád) — cellular telephone
  • Hindi: मोबाइल फ़ोन (mobāil fon) — cellular telephone
  • Hindi: मोबाइल (mobāil) — cellular telephone
  • Hungarian: mobiltelefon — cellular telephone
  • Hungarian: mobil — cellular telephone
  • Icelandic: farsími — cellular telephone
  • Icelandic: gemsi — cellular telephone
  • Icelandic: GSM-sími — cellular telephone
  • Indonesian: telepon selular — cellular telephone
  • Indonesian: telepon genggam — cellular telephone
  • Indonesian: telepon seluler — cellular telephone
  • Interlingua: telephono mobile — cellular telephone
  • Irish: guthán soghluaiste — cellular telephone
  • Irish: guthán póca — cellular telephone
  • Irish: fón póca — cellular telephone
  • Italian: cellulare — cellular telephone
  • Italian: telefono cellulare — cellular telephone
  • Italian: telefono mobile — cellular telephone
  • Italian: telefonino — cellular telephone
  • Italian: natel — cellular telephone
  • Jamaican Creole: muobail fuon — cellular telephone
  • Jamaican Creole: mobail fuon — cellular telephone
  • Jamaican Creole: muobail telifuon — cellular telephone
  • Japanese: 携帯電話 (keitai denwa) — cellular telephone
  • Japanese: 携帯 (keitai) — cellular telephone
  • Japanese: セルホーン (seruhōn) — cellular telephone
  • Japanese: セルフォン (serufon) — cellular telephone
  • Japanese: モバイル (mobairu) — cellular telephone
  • Kalmyk: һар утцн (ğar uttsn) — cellular telephone
  • Kannada: ಮೊಬೈಲ್ ಫೋನ್ (mobail phōn) — cellular telephone
  • Kapampanan: selpon — cellular telephone
  • Kapampanan: salepanu — cellular telephone
  • Kapampanan: pamaus — cellular telephone
  • Kazakh: ұялы телефон (ūäly telefon) — cellular telephone
  • Kazakh: қалта телефоны (qalta telefony) — cellular telephone
  • Kazakh: қалтафон (qaltafon) — cellular telephone
  • Kazakh: мобилді телефон (mobildı telefon) — cellular telephone
  • Khmer: ទូរសព្ទចល័ត (tuurĕəʼsap caʼlat) — cellular telephone
  • Korean: 휴대전화 (hyudaejeonhwa) — cellular telephone
  • Korean: 핸드폰 (haendeupon) — cellular telephone
  • Korean: 휴대(携帶)폰 (hyudaepon) — cellular telephone
  • Korean: 모바일폰 (mobailpon) — cellular telephone
  • Korean: 셀룰러폰 (sellulleopon) — cellular telephone
  • Korean: 셀폰 (selpon) — cellular telephone
  • Korean: 손전화 (sonjeonhwa) — cellular telephone
  • Korean: 손전화기 (sonjeonhwagi) — cellular telephone
  • Australian Kriol: telefonn portab — cellular telephone
  • Australian Kriol: portab — cellular telephone
  • Australian Kriol: mobayl — cellular telephone
  • Central Kurdish: مۆبایل (mobayl) — cellular telephone
  • Northern Kurdish: telefona destan — cellular telephone
  • Northern Kurdish: telefona berîkê — cellular telephone
  • Northern Kurdish: telefona bêtêl — cellular telephone
  • Northern Kurdish: telefona mobîl — cellular telephone
  • Kyrgyz: кол телефон (kol telefon) — cellular telephone
  • Kyrgyz: уюлдук телефон (uyulduk telefon) — cellular telephone
  • Ladino: djep — cellular telephone
  • Ladino: pélefon — cellular telephone
  • Lakota: omásʼapȟela — cellular telephone
  • Lao: ໂທລະສັບມືຖື (thō la sap mư̄ thư̄) — cellular telephone
  • Latin: tēlephōnum gestābile — cellular telephone
  • Latin: tēlephōnium gestābile — cellular telephone
  • Latin: tēlephōnum portātile — cellular telephone
  • Latin: tēlephōnium portātile — cellular telephone
  • Latin: tēlephōnum portābile — cellular telephone
  • Latin: tēlephōnium portābile — cellular telephone
  • Latin: tēlephōnulum — cellular telephone
  • Latvian: mobilais tālrunis — cellular telephone
  • Latvian: mobilais telefons — cellular telephone
  • Latvian: mobilais — cellular telephone
  • Limburgish: gsm — cellular telephone
  • Limburgish: mobielke — cellular telephone
  • Lithuanian: mobilusis telefonas — cellular telephone
  • Luxembourgish: Handy — cellular telephone
  • Macedonian: мобилен телефо́н (mobilen telefón) — cellular telephone
  • Macedonian: мобилен (mobilen) — cellular telephone
  • Macedonian: преносен телефо́н (prenosen telefón) — cellular telephone
  • Malay: telefon bimbit — cellular telephone
  • Pattani Malay: telefon tangan — cellular telephone
  • Malayalam: മൊബൈൽഫോൺ (mobailphōṇ) — cellular telephone
  • Malayalam: ജംഗമദൂരവാണി (jaṅgamadūravāṇi) — cellular telephone
  • Malayalam: ദൂരഭാഷണശ്രവണസഹായി (dūrabhāṣaṇaśravaṇasahāyi) — cellular telephone
  • Malayalam: സഞ്ചാരദൂരഭാഷിണി (sañcāradūrabhāṣiṇi) — cellular telephone
  • Malayalam: സെൽഫോൺ (selphōṇ) — cellular telephone
  • Maltese: mowbajl — cellular telephone
  • Maltese: telefon ċellulari — cellular telephone
  • Maltese: ċellulari — cellular telephone
  • Māori: waea pūkoro — cellular telephone
  • Marathi: मोबाईल (mobāīl) — cellular telephone
  • Marathi: मोबाईल फोन (mobāīl phon) — cellular telephone
  • Mongolian: гар утас (gar utas) — cellular telephone
  • Mongolian: хармаа дянхуа (xarmaa djanxua) — cellular telephone
  • Mongolian: ᠭᠠᠷ ᠣᠲᠠᠰᠤ (ɣar otasu) — cellular telephone
  • Mongolian: ᠬᠠᠷᠮᠠᠨ ᠳ᠋ᠢᠶᠠᠩᠬᠤᠸᠠ (qarman diyangquwa) — cellular telephone
  • Nahuatl: ehecatlanonotzqui — cellular telephone
  • Navajo: biłńjoobałí — cellular telephone
  • Navajo: bił níjoobałí — cellular telephone
  • Navajo: bił níjooyisí — cellular telephone
  • Navajo: béésh bee haneʼé tʼóó naatʼáhígíí — cellular telephone
  • Norman: téléphône dé pouchette — cellular telephone
  • Norwegian Bokmål: mobiltelefon — cellular telephone
  • Norwegian Bokmål: mobil — cellular telephone
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: mobiltelefon — cellular telephone
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: mobil — cellular telephone
  • Occitan: telefòne portable — cellular telephone
  • Occitan: telefonet — cellular telephone
  • Odia: ମୋବାଇଲ ଫୋନ (mobāila phona) — cellular telephone
  • Palula: waarlís — cellular telephone
  • Pashto: ګرځنده ټيلفون (garjanda ṭelefon) — cellular telephone
  • Iranian Persian: تِلِفُنِ هَمْراه (telefon-e hamrâh) — cellular telephone
  • Iranian Persian: تِلِفُنِ موبایْل (telefon-e mobâyl) — cellular telephone
  • Iranian Persian: موبایْل (mobâyl) — cellular telephone
  • Iranian Persian: گوشیِ هَمْراه (guši-ye hamrâh) — cellular telephone
  • Iranian Persian: گوشی (guši) — cellular telephone
  • Polish: telefon — cellular telephone
  • Polish: telefon komórkowy — cellular telephone
  • Polish: komórka — cellular telephone
  • Portuguese: celular — cellular telephone
  • Portuguese: telefone celular — cellular telephone
  • Portuguese: telemóvel — cellular telephone
  • Portuguese: telefone móvel — cellular telephone
  • Punjabi: ਮੋਬਾਈਲ ਫ਼ੋਨ (mobāīla fon) — cellular telephone
  • Romanian: telefon mobil — cellular telephone
  • Romanian: telefon celular — cellular telephone
  • Romanian: mobil — cellular telephone
  • Romanian: celular — cellular telephone
  • Romansh: telefon mobil — cellular telephone
  • Russian: моби́льный телефо́н (mobílʹnyj telefón) — cellular telephone
  • Russian: со́товый телефо́н (sótovyj telefón) — cellular telephone
  • Russian: моби́льник (mobílʹnik) — cellular telephone
  • Russian: со́товый (sótovyj) — cellular telephone
  • Russian: моби́ла (mobíla) — cellular telephone
  • Northern Sami: mobiilatelefovdna — cellular telephone
  • Northern Sami: giehtatelefovdna — cellular telephone
  • Northern Sami: mátketelefovdna — cellular telephone
  • Scottish Gaelic: fòn-làimhe — cellular telephone
  • Serbo-Croatian: мо̀бител — cellular telephone
  • Serbo-Croatian: мо̏билан телѐфон — cellular telephone
  • Serbo-Croatian: мобилни телефон — cellular telephone
  • Serbo-Croatian: mòbitel — cellular telephone
  • Serbo-Croatian: mȍbīlan telèfōn — cellular telephone
  • Serbo-Croatian: mobilni telefon — cellular telephone
  • Sinhalese: ජංගම දුරකථනය (jaṁgama durakathanaya) — cellular telephone
  • Slovak: mobilný telefón — cellular telephone
  • Slovak: mobil — cellular telephone
  • Slovene: mobilni telefon — cellular telephone
  • Slovene: prenosni telefon — cellular telephone
  • Sotho: selfono — cellular telephone
  • Spanish: teléfono móvil — cellular telephone
  • Spanish: móvil — cellular telephone
  • Spanish: teléfono celular — cellular telephone
  • Spanish: celular — cellular telephone
  • Sranan Tongo: sèl — cellular telephone
  • Sranan Tongo: kari — cellular telephone
  • Swahili: rununu — cellular telephone
  • Swahili: simu ya mkononi — cellular telephone
  • Swedish: mobiltelefon — cellular telephone
  • Swedish: mobil — cellular telephone
  • Swedish: nalle — cellular telephone
  • Tagalog: selepono — cellular telephone
  • Tagalog: teleponong selular — cellular telephone
  • Tagalog: selpon — cellular telephone
  • Tajik: телефони ҳамроҳ (telefon-i hamroh) — cellular telephone
  • Tamil: நகர்பேசி (nakarpēci) — cellular telephone
  • Tamil: செல்லிடத் தொலைபேசி (celliṭat tolaipēci) — cellular telephone
  • Tamil: கைப்பேசி (kaippēci) — cellular telephone
  • Tamil: அலைப்பேசி (alaippēci) — cellular telephone
  • Tamil: மொபைல் (mopail) — cellular telephone
  • Tatar: кесә телефоны (kesä telefonı) — cellular telephone
  • Telugu: చరవాణి (caravāṇi) — cellular telephone
  • Telugu: మొబైల్ ఫోన్ (mobail phōn) — cellular telephone
  • Thai: โทรศัพท์เคลื่อนที่ (too-rá-sàp-klʉ̂ʉan-tîi) — cellular telephone
  • Thai: โทรศัพท์มือถือ (too-rá-sàp-mʉʉ-tʉ̌ʉ) — cellular telephone
  • Thai: มือถือ (mʉʉ-tʉ̌ʉ) — cellular telephone
  • Tibetan: ལག་ཐོག་ཁ་དཔར (lag thog kha dpar) — cellular telephone
  • Tok Pisin: mobail fon — cellular telephone
  • Turkish: cep telefonu — cellular telephone
  • Turkish: cep — cellular telephone
  • Turkmen: ykjam telefon — cellular telephone
  • Ukrainian: мобі́льний телефо́н (mobílʹnyj telefón) — cellular telephone
  • Ukrainian: стільнико́вий телефо́н (stilʹnykóvyj telefón) — cellular telephone
  • Ukrainian: мобі́льник (mobílʹnyk) — cellular telephone
  • Urdu: موبائِل فون (mobāil fon) — cellular telephone
  • Urdu: گَشْتی فون (gaśtī fon) — cellular telephone
  • Urdu: دَسْتی فون (dastī fon) — cellular telephone
  • Urdu: دَسْتی ہاتِف (dastī hātif) — cellular telephone
  • Urdu: خلوی فون (xalvī-fon) — cellular telephone
  • Uyghur: يانفون (yanfon) — cellular telephone
  • Uzbek: mobil telefon — cellular telephone
  • Vietnamese: điện thoại di động — cellular telephone
  • Vietnamese: điện thoại cầm tay — cellular telephone
  • Vietnamese: di động — cellular telephone
  • Volapük: telefonöm polovik — cellular telephone
  • Walloon: axhlåve — cellular telephone
  • Walloon: mobilofone — cellular telephone
  • Walloon: wizesse — cellular telephone
  • Walloon: schoûtrece — cellular telephone
  • Walloon: GSM — cellular telephone
  • Welsh: ffôn symudol — cellular telephone
  • Yakut: сиэп төлөппүөнэ (siep tölöppüöne) — cellular telephone
  • Yiddish: מאָביל טעלעפֿאָן (mobil telefon) — cellular telephone
  • Yiddish: מאָבילקע (mobilke) — cellular telephone
  • Yiddish: צעלקע (tselke) — cellular telephone
  • Zhuang: soujgih — cellular telephone
  • Zulu: umakhalekhukhwini — cellular telephone