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
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK:/təˈlɛf.ə.ni/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:T EH1 L AH0 F OW2 N IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The study and application of telephone technology.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
transmitting speech at a distance
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kwelh1-der. Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle)lbor. French télé- Proto-Indo-European *bheh2-der. Proto-Hellenic *phōnā́ Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ)der. French -phone French téléphonebor. English telephone English -y English telephony From telephone + -y.
Across languages
Translations
21 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic:
ܚܘܼܛܵܡܠܝܼܠܘܼܬܵܐ
(ḳuṭamlīluta)
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Catalan:
telefonia
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Danish:
telefoni
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Dutch:
telefonie
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Finnish:
puhelintekniikka
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Galician:
telefonía
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
German:
Telefonie
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
German:
Fernsprechwesen
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Greek:
τηλεφωνία
(tilefonía)
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Irish:
teileafónaíocht
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Italian:
telefonia
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Kazakh:
телефония
(telefoniä)
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Latin:
tēlephōnia
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Latvian:
telefonija
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Norwegian Bokmål:
telefoni
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Norwegian Nynorsk:
telefoni
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Portuguese:
telefonia
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Romanian:
telefonie
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Russian:
телефони́я
(telefoníja)
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Spanish:
telefonía
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
Swedish:
telefoni
— act of sound transmission via the electromagnetic spectrum
