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Telephone

Definition: Telephone

Telephone

Noun

1. Electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds; "I talked to him on the telephone".

2. Transmitting speech at a distance.

Verb

1. Get or try to get into communication (with someone) by telephone; "I tried to call you all night"; "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "telephone" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1883. (references)

 

Specialty Definition: Telephone

DomainDefinition

Satire

TELEPHONE, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance. Source: Devil's Dictionary.

19th Century Satire

From Eng. tell, to talk, and Grk. phonos, murder. A machine in which talk is murdered. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904.

Dream Interpretation

To dream of a telephone, foretells you will meet strangers who will harass and bewilder you in your affairs. For a woman to dream of talking over one, denotes she will have much jealous rivalry, but will overcome all evil influences. If she cannot hear well in conversing over one, she is threatened with evil gossip, and the loss of a lover. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted ....

Electrical Engineering

A telephone set with associated wiring and auxiliary equipment connected to a telephone network for the purpose of telephony. Source: European Union. (references)

Post & Telecom

A device used mainly for voice communications which converts audible signals into electrical waves, which can then be transmitted over communications channels. Source: European Union. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Direct marketing

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

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Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Direct marketing."

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Public switched telephone network

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the concatenation of the world's public circuit-switched telephone networks, in much the same way that the Internet is the concatenation of the world's public IP-based packet-switched networks. Originally a network of fixed-line analog telephone systems, the PSTN is now almost entirely digital, and now includes mobile as well as fixed telephones.

The PSTN is largely governed by technical standards created by the ITU-T, and uses E.163/E.164 addresses (known more commonly as telephone numbers) for addressing.

The basic digital circuit in the PSTN is a 64-kilobit-per-second channel, originally designed by Bell Labs, called a "DS0" or Digital Signal 0. To carry a typical phone call, the audio sound is digitized at an 8 kHz sample rate using 8-bit pulse code modulation.

The DS0's are the basic granularity at which switching takes place in a telephone exchange. DS0's are also known as timeslots because they are multiplexed together in a time-division fashion. Multiple DS0's are multiplexed together on higher capacity circuits, such that 24 DS0's make a DS1 signal, which when carried on copper is the well-known, T-carrier system, T1 (the European equivalent is an E1, containing 32 64 kbit/s channels). In modern networks, this multiplexing is moved as close to the end user as possible, usually into cabinets at the roadside in residential areas, or into large business premises.

The timeslots are conveyed from the initial multiplexer to the exchange over a set of equipment collectively known as the access network. The access network and inter-exchange transport of the PSTN use synchronous optical transmission (SONET and SDH) technology, although some parts still use the older PDH technology.

Within the access network, there are a number of reference points defined. Most of these are of interest mainly to ISDN but one - the V reference point - is of more general interest. This is the reference point between a primary multiplexer and an exchange. The protocols at this reference point were standardised in ETSI areas as the V5 interface.

Only the very oldest and most backward parts of the telephone network still use analog technology for anything other than the last mile loop to the end user, and in recent years digital services have been increasing rolled out to end users using services such as DSL and ISDN.

In the 1970s the telecommunications industry conceived that digital services would follow much the same pattern as voice services, and conceived a grandiose vision of end-to-end circuit switched services, known as the Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (B-ISDN). The B-ISDN vision has been overtaken by the disruptive technology of the Internet.

Many observers believe that the long term future of the PSTN is to be just one application of the Internet - however, the Internet has some way to go before this transition can be made: see the article on Voice over IP for more on this subject.

The PSTN was the earliest example of traffic engineering to deliver Quality of Service guarantees. (See the work of A.K. Erlang for some history on this).

Note: there are also a number of large private telephone networks which are not linked to the PSTN, usually for military purposes. There are also private networks run by large companies which are linked to the PSTN only through limited gateways, like a large PABX system.

See also:

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Telephone

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The telephone or phone is a telecommunications device designed to transmit speech by means of electric signals. It was invented around 1860 by Antonio Meucci who called it teletrophone, as recently recognized by the US Congress in the resolution 269 on June 15th, 2002. Before that resolution it was generally attributed to Alexander Graham Bell. The first recorded public demonstration of Meucci's invention took place in 1860, and had a description of it published in New York's Italian language newspaper. In 1861 Philipp Reis presented a machine for electronic voice transmission.

The very early constructions of the telephone was based on sound transportation through air rather than generated electric signals from speech. According to a letter in the Peking Gazette, in 968, the Chinese inventor Kung-Foo-Whing invented the thumtsein, which probably transported the speech through pipes. Even the early inventions made by Meucci et al transported the sound through pipes.

The history of additional inventions and improvements of the electrical telephone includes the carbon microphone (later replaced by the electret microphone now used in almost all telephone transmitters), the manual switchboard, the rotary dial, the automatic telephone exchange, the computerized telephone switch, Touch Tone(R) dialing (DTMF), the digitization of sound using different coding techniques including pulse code modulation or PCM (which is commonly used for .WAV files and on compact disks).

Newer systems include ISDN, DSL, cell phone (mobile) systems, digital cell phone systems, cordless telephones and the third generation cell phone systems that promise to allow high-speed packet data transfer.

The industry was early on divided into telephone equipment manufacturers and telephone network operators (telcos), the latter often holding a national monopoly. In the United States, the Bell System was vertically integrated: it fully or partially owned the telephone companies that provided service to about 80% of the telephones in the country and also owned Western Electric, which manufactured or purchased virtually all the equipment and supplies used by the local telephone companies. The Bell System divested itself of the local telephone companies in 1984 in order to settle an antitrust suit brought against it by the United States Department of Justice.

The first transatlantic telephone call was between New York City and London and occurred on January 7, 1927.

Telephone equipment manufacturers

Alcatel, Ericsson, Huawei, Lucent, Marconi, Motorola, Nokia, Nortel, Samsung, Siemens AG, Sony Ericsson

Telephone equipment research labs

Bell Labs

Telephone operating companies

Some Telco names (in alphabetic order) include: AT&T, BC TEL, Belgacom, Bell, Bell Canada, British Telecom, Cable and Wireless, Deutsche Telekom, GTE, IDT, ITT, MCI, NTL, NTT, SBC Communications, Telefonica, Teleglobe, Telewest, Telstra, Telia, TELUS, Verizon

Land-line based phone systems and fixed telephony

The network that connects most phones together is known as the PSTN (public switched telephone network).

Fixed phone lines are usually copper wirelines which form a circuit between the subscriber and the exchange, although some recent installations may use optical fiber for part of the distance. An analog line typically uses frequencies of 0-3.5 kHz, with frequencies higher than this filtered at the exchange. The analog speech signals are carried over the digital backbone network as a stream of digitally encoded samples at a sample rate of 8 kHz. The frequences above 4 kHz can be utilized for DSL connections.

A line is a single voice communications circuit between the subscriber and the central switching office. A trunk is a single circuit between central offices and may be analog or digital and is transmitted via copper, microwave, or fiber optics. A trunk group is a grouping of identical trunk circuits between two specific central offices.

Automatic telephone systems generally use numeric addresses, more commonly known as telephone numbers. The addressing system often distinguishes local, long-distance and international calls. Local calls are initiated by dialling the local number. A long-distance number is indicated by a long-distance prefix (CCITT recommends "0") followed by area code and a number local to that area. International phone calls require an international prefix (CCITT recommends "00") followed by area code and local number. US and Canadian phone systems use "1" as the long distance prefix and "011" for international prefix. See country calling codes for access codes to international telephone services.

Larger companies and organizations often employ a PABX (Private Automatic Branch Exchange). This is a telephone switch that defines its own local phone number range, which is commonly embedded in a public local phone number range. Some of the largest companies now even have their own internal telephone networks across the country, or even throughout the world, with limited gateways into the PSTN.

Most PSTN systems use analog communication between individual phones and the local switch. If digital communication is used for an individual phone, the system used is usually ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network).

Between switches in the PSTN, most signalling is now digital using Signalling System 7 ("SS7").

Cordless telephones

Cordless telephones consist of a base unit that connects to the land-line system and also communicates with remote handsets by low power radio. This permits use of the handset from any location within range of the base. Initially, cordless phones used the 1.7 MHz range to communicate between between base and handset. Because of quality and range problems, these units were soon superseded by systems that used frequency modulation in higher frequency ranges (49 MHz, 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5.8 GHz). The range of modern cordless phones is normally on the order of a few hundred yards.

Wireless phone systems

Most wireless phone systems are cell-structured. Wireless communication is used between the handsets and the cell. Communication between cells can be wireless, or over ground cables. When an active handset moves from one cell to another, the call is automatically transferred to the next cell without interrupting the call.

There are now multiple standards for common carrier wireless telephony, often with multiple incompatable standards used in the same nation:

Related articles

ADSL, AIOD leads, Answering machine, ANAC, Area code, Assistive Technology, Automatic redial, Basic exchange telecommunications radio service, Bomb threat, Call center, Call originator, Caller, Caller ID, Camp-on busy signal, Computer telephony integration (CTI), Crank call, Customer premises equipment, Deaf, Demon dialing, Dial Tone, Digital subscriber line, Direct distance dialing, Dual tone multi frequency, Emergency telephone number, End instrument, Fax, Foreign exchange service, Help desk, Infrastructure, Interactive voice response (IVR), IP Telephony, Line, Local loop Long-distance operator, Party line, Modem Payphone, Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), Phone Phone phreaking, Photophone, Phreaking, Post office Prank call, Private line, Red telephone box, Ringer equivalency number, Ringing signal, Rural radio service, Smartphone, TAPI, Telautograph, Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD or TTY), Telemarketing, Telephone booth, Telephone directory, Telephone exchange Telephone tapping Telegraph, Telemarketing, Videotex, Voice over Internet Protocol, Voicemail, War dialing, Wide Area Telephone Service, Wireless network, Wi-Fi 610 (telephone), 431A

US-specific

Federal Standard 1037C-Glossary of telephony terms, Federal Regulations - Part 68, Modification of Final Judgment, Local access and transport area (LATA), Local exchange carrier, Interexchange carrier, Regional Bell operating company, Competitive local exchange carrier

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Telephone."

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Abbreviations & Acronyms: Telephone

The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted.
EntrySourceExpressionField
TELEnglishTelephone numberComputing

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Synonyms: Telephone

Synonyms: telephone set (n), telephony (n), call (v), call up (v), phone (v), ring (v). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Telephone

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Information

Announce, annunciate; report, report progress; bringword, send word, leave word, write word; telegraph, telephone; wire; retail, render an account; give an account; (describe); state; (affirm).

Mart

Tobacco shop, tobacco store, tobacconists, cigar store, hardware store, jewelry shop, bookstore, liquor store, gun shop, rod and reel shop, furniture store, drugstore, chemist's, florist, flower shop, shoe store, stationer, stationer's, electronics shop, telephone store, music store, record shop, fur store, sporting goods store, video store, video rental store; lumber store, lumber yard, home improvements store, home improvement center; gas station, auto repair shop, auto dealer, used car dealer.

Messenger

Telegraph, telephone; cable, wire (electronic information transmission); carrier pigeon.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Telephone

English words defined with "telephone": dial telephone ♦ French telephone ♦ telephone bill, telephone book, telephone booth, telephone box, telephone call, telephone company, telephone conversation, telephone cord, telephone dial, telephone directory, telephone extension, telephone interview, telephone jack, telephone kiosk, telephone line, telephone message, telephone number, telephone order, telephone plug, telephone pole, telephone service, telephone unit, telephone wire ♦ wireless telephone. (references)
Specialty definitions using "telephone": American Telephone and Telegraph, Inc. ♦ Be Counted/ Telephone Questionnaire Assistance Field Verification ♦ coin-operated telephone, computer assisted telephone interview, computer assisted telephone interviewing ♦ electrician, telephone, electronic telephone, enhanced telephone ♦ intelligent telephone ♦ loudspeaker face telephone ♦ MAINTENANCE MECHANIC, TELEPHONE, micro telephone, misuse of the telephone, mobile telephone exchange, mobile telephone switching center, mobile telephone switching centre, mobile telephone switching office ♦ Plain Old Telephone Service, Plain Old Telephone System, Post, Telephone and Telegraph administration ♦ SALES REPRESENTATIVE, TELEPHONE SERVICES, smart telephone, subscriber's telephone line, SUPERVISOR, ELECTRICAL REPAIR AND TELEPHONE LINE MAINTENANCE, SUPERVISOR, TELEPHONE CLERKS, SUPERVISOR, TELEPHONE INFORMATION ♦ telephone aids, telephone answering service, Telephone Application Program Interface, telephone central office, TELEPHONE CLERK, TELEGRAPH OFFICE, telephone connection, telephone followup, telephone instrument, telephone nr 112, TELEPHONE OPERATOR, CHIEF, telephone PBX, Telephone Questionnaire Assistance, TELEPHONE QUOTATION CLERK, telephone repairer, telephone repeater, telephone station, telephone subsystems, telephone supervisor, telephone user part ♦ wide area telephone service. (references)
Etymologies containing "telephone": Graphophone. (references)

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Modern Usage: Telephone

DomainUsage

Screenplays

And one day I help a couple of older gentlemen make some free telephone calls (Sneakers; writing credit: Phil Alden Robinson, Lawrence Lasker, and Walter F. Parkes.)

This afternoon we had a long telephone conversation earlier in the day. (Jail Bait; writing credit: Alex Gordon; Edward D. Wood Jr.)

The telephone is a marvelous invention but you should never use one while standing in a bathtub (Small Town Girl; writing credit: Ben Ames Williams; John Lee Mahin)

Ugh! Liar, liar, pants on fire, nose is as long as a telephone wire (Ultimo tango a Parigi; writing credit: Bernardo Bertolucci;)

There's no jets, planes, telephone polls, or power lines (Deadly Blessing; writing credit: Glenn M. Benest; Matthew Barr)

Lyrics

If you'd pick up that telephone yeah yeah yeah (Telephone Line; performing artist: ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA)

At least please telephone (Don't Be Cruel; performing artist: Cheap Trick)

Can you pay my telephone bills ("Bills, Bills, Bills"; performing artist: Destiny's Child)

U and i had many conversations on the telephone (Don't Wanna Try; performing artist: FRANKIE J)

Want to call you on the telephone baby I give you a ring (Keep Your Hands To Yourself; performing artist: Georgia Satellites)

Clever

The international telephone dialing code for Antarctica is 672. (references; author: unknown)

You are an engineer if your wrist watch has more buttons than a telephone. (references; author: unknown)

Movie/TV Titles

Telephone (2002)

The Telephone Book (1971)

We Learn About the Telephone (1965)

The Telephone Call (1962)

Telephone Time (1956)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Telephone

DomainTitle

References

  • Anglo-Canadian Telephone Company: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

  • Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

  • Mobile Telephone Handsets in Taiwan: A Strategic Entry Report, 1998 (reference)

  • Hungarian Telephone and Cable Corp.: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

  • Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

    (more reference examples)

  

Books

  • Seattle & Puget Sound Town Compass Vital Telephone Numbers Conveniently Organized to Save you Time, Money and Aggravation (Town Compass) (reference)

  • Private Telephone Networks : Introduction to KTS, PBX, Centrex, CTI, WPBX [DOWNLOAD: PDF] (reference)

  • Demotic Greek II: The Flying Telephone Booth (reference)

  • Workbook for Demotic Greek II: The Flying Telephone Booth (reference)

  • Alexander Graham Bell: The Life and Times of the Man Who Invented the Telephone (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Periodicals

  

Theater & Movies

  • Great Pianists of the Bell Telephone Hour (1959-1967) (reference)

  • Great Stars of Opera - Telecasts from the Bell Telephone Hour 1959-1966 (reference)

  • Great Violinists of the Bell Telephone Hour (1959-1964) (reference)

  • Mastering Telephone Skills for Sales Professionals (reference)

  • Telephone, The: The American Experience (reference)

    (more DVD examples; more video examples)

  

Music

  

High Tech

  • Uniden EXI2246c 2.4 GHz Analog Telephone with 10 Number Memory Dialing and Rocket Dialing (Charcoal) (reference)

  • Authentic 1940s Telephone (reference)

  • Southwestern Bell FM2575 Caller ID Telephone with Answering System (reference)

  • GE 27920 2.4 GHz Cordless Telephone with Backlit Keypad (Metallic Burgundy) (reference)

  • GE 29269GE1 Corded Big Button Telephone with Call-Waiting Caller ID (reference)

    (more camera examples; more video game examples; more computer examples; more electronic examples; more software examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Telephone

Photos:
Telephone

More pictures...

Illustrations:
Telephone

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Telephone

More pictures...

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Photo Album: Telephone

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

A CDC epidemiologist in Kikwit, Zaire, communicates with colleagues in Atlanta via satellite telephone. Credit: CDC.

Demonstrating listening device, very similar to a telephone, used on board ships with submarine signaling apparatus. In: "Submarine Signaling," Scientific American Supplement, No. 2071, pp. 168-170, Sept. 11, 1915. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.

Referral manuals and telephone numbers, the "tools of the trade" for crisis hotline volunteers, are always at their finger tips when needed to help someone with a problem. (P.; photo by Master Sgt. Keith Reed)..

Caption: "The Telescribe Used for Outside Telephone Conversation"; December 10, 1915; {29.320/217} (jpg).

[Using the telephone to connect to the mainframe]. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

[A PHS physician using the telephone in the duty station of a hospital ward]. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

Specialist (Y) 2nd Class Janna Hoffman (with microphone) and Specialist (Y) Helen Lu Dooley (with telephone) handle control tower duties, circa 1944-45. The Specialist (Y) rating represented the occupation of Control Tower Operator. Credit: NAVY.

Loading drill on one of the ship's 5"/51 secondary battery guns, 1915. Note projectile, bagged powder charge, rammer, opened gun breech mechanism, sighting telescope on left side of gun, and telephone "talker" standing near the gun. Also note that one of the guncrewmen has bare feet. Credit: NAVY.

African American men, prisoners, with two mules working on roadbed(?) between electrical and telephone poles in Georgia. Credit: Library of Congress.

Man astride telephone pole and letter T. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Digital Photo Gallery: Telephone
 

"Thai hotel telephone" by Luigi Belli
Commentary: "This is a thai hotel's telephone, appended on bathroom wall (Chang Rai - Wiang Inn Hotel)."		"Green Telephone" by Simon Nicklin
Commentary: "Big Green Telephone."

Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

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Sounds Captioned with "Telephone".

PlayCaptionPlayCaption
Old-fashioned telephone ringing.Dialing a telephone number from a rotary dial telephone.
Old-fashioned telephone ringing.Telephone rings once.
Dialing on a rotary telephone.Electronic telephone ringing once.
Dialing on a rotary telephone.Dialing a telephone number from a rotary dial telephone.
Sound of person hanging up on the other end of the telephone connection.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Familiar Quotations: Telephone

AuthorQuotation

Donald Sinden

An actor who knows his business ought to be able to make the London telephone directory sound enthralling.

Ilka Chase

America's best buy is a telephone call to the right man.

Sholom Aleichem

Gossip is nature's telephone.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Historic Usage: Telephone

AuthorDateQuotation

Treaty of Versailles

1919

The French State may also establish any new means of communication, such as roads, electric lines, and telephone connections which it may consider necessary for the exploitation of the mines it may exploit freely and without any restrictions the means of communication of which it may become the owner, particularly those connecting the mines and their accessories and subsidiaries with the means of communication situated in French territory. (reference)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Telephone

SubjectTopicQuote

Health

Telephone amplifying devices. (references)

The spinal cord is, in part, like a living telephone cable. (references)

One example of such a device is the built-in telephone amplifier. (references)

Business

Estonian Telephone is the main telephone operator. (references)

Share dealing is conducted through brokers by telephone. (references)

Mobikom offers prepaid telephone cards for public phones. (references)

Children

Malta

A "helpline" telephone number exists for reports of suspected cases of child abuse. (references)

Belize

The NOPCA instituted a nationwide telephone help line to encourage discourse and reduce abuse. (references)

Portugal

It provides telephone and in-person counseling, intervention, and prevention services in cases of child abuse and neglect. (references)

Civil Liberties

Bangladesh

Since then, they have threatened Aronno by telephone. (references)

Argentina

The following week, Oeschger received a telephone threat referring to the shooting. (references)

Bahrain

Access to the Internet is provided through the National Telephone Company (BATELCO). (references)

Economic History

Sweden

Call the embassy for locations and telephone numbers. (references)

Peru

The RSO can be reached by telephone at [51](1) 434-3000. (references)

Australia

In Australia, local telephone calls are charged at a flat rate. (references)

Human Rights

Burma

Security personnel regularly screen private correspondence and telephone calls. (references)

United Arab Emirates

Most prisoners in Dubai are allowed family visits and a number of telephone calls. (references)

Kazakhstan

The Commission receives complaints from citizens in person, by telephone or in writing. (references)

Minorities

Croatia

A series of harsh anonymous telephone calls to the Center ceased after police began an investigation. (references)

Russia

On September 16, perpetrators hurled a Molotov cocktail into the Moscow headquarters of the Church of Scientology; the church had received bomb threats by telephone prior to the incident. (references)

Political Economy

CANADA

Recent regulatory changes have opened both long-distance and local telephone services to competition. (references)

Political Rights

Jamaica

The Councilor's car windshield was broken, and he later received a telephone threat. (references)

Tanzania

One operator reported that his family received threatening telephone calls at home for refusing to comply with the request. (references)

Colombia

In response to these attacks and threats, some rural mayors fled to major cities, where they continued to conduct municipal business via telephone and facsimile. (references)

Trade

Argentina

Visit the EXIM Internet site at www.exim.gov for 24-hour access to EXIM and its programs or call their toll free telephone number (800) 565-EXIM. (references)

South Africa

Exporters should call the Bureau of Export Administration at telephone 202-482-4830 (www.bxa.doc.gov) for an update on "dual use" export controls. (references)

Sweden

These banks tend to concentrate on certain areas of banking services or methods of banking, e.g. 'dial-in' banks for banking services by telephone. (references)

Travel

Chad

There is a 7-year wait for a telephone. (references)

Ghana

Ghana has about 260,000 telephone lines. (references)

Mexico

Worldwide telephone service offer good connections. (references)

Women

Saudi Arabia

Frequently, contact with male supervisors or clients is allowed only by telephone or fax machine. (references)

Jordan

NGO's such as the Jordanian Women's Union, which has a telephone hot-line for victims of domestic violence, provide assistance in such matters. (references)

Brazil

For example, 20 percent lacked a conventional telephone line, 53 percent lacked police officers trained in dealing with violence against women, and 77 percent did not have an officer on duty 24 hours a day. (references)

Worker Rights

Italy

The Prime Minister's office provides a toll-free telephone number to report incidents of child labor. (references)

Italy

In July 2000, the Government set up a toll-free telephone number to help victims take advantage of this program. (references)

Belarus

The BYCWO also established an information telephone line for women traveling abroad for reasons other than tourism. (references)

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

TELESCOPE, n. A device having a relation to the eye similar to that of the telephone to the ear, enabling distant objects to plague us with a multitude of needless details. Luckily it is unprovided with a bell summoning us to the sacrifice.

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Spoken Usage: Telephone

SpeakerPhrase(s)

Dennis Miller

The telephone, once one of the most useful inventions for man, has now become a communication curse for mankind.

Rush Limbaugh

On Saturday, the Associated Press reported that the Justice Department's chief spokeswoman recommended a subpoena for the home telephone records of an AP reporter.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Usage Frequency: Telephone

"Telephone" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 93.88% of the time. "Telephone" is used about 7,620 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words		Rank in English
Noun (singular)93.88%7,1531,358
Lexical Verb (infinitive)5.47%41713,597
Lexical Verb (base form)0.64%4948,677
                    Total100.00%7,620N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Usage in Company Names: Telephone

CountryNameCountryName
Canada

Anglo-Canadian Telephone Company

India

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited

Japan

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Pakistan

Pakistan Telephone Cables Limited

Philippines

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.

Russian Federation

Moscow City Telephone Network (JSC)

Thailand

Thai Telephone & Telecommunication Public Co. Ltd.

USA

Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises

 (more examples...)  

Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.

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Cities: Telephone


1. Telephone, TX
Zip Code(s): 75488
Country: USA

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Expression: Telephone

Expressions using "telephone": answer the telephone ♦ be on the telephone ♦ business telephone exchange ♦ business telephone system ♦ by telephone ♦ cellular telephone ♦ changed telephone number announcer ♦ computer assisted telephone interviewing ♦ computer Telephone Integration ♦ Consultant Committee on International Telephone and Telegraph ♦ Consultative Committee for International Telegraph and Telephone ♦ cordless telephone ♦ dial telephone ♦ dictate over a telephone ♦ electronic telephone ♦ enhanced telephone ♦ extension telephone ♦ french telephone ♦ intelligent telephone ♦ interoffice telephone ♦ micro telephone ♦ misuse of the telephone ♦ mobile radio telephone ♦ mobile telephone ♦ mobile telephone exchange ♦ mobile telephone subscriber ♦ mobile telephone switching center ♦ mobile telephone switching centre ♦ mobile telephone switching office ♦ mobile telephone unit ♦ on the telephone ♦ operator's telephone set ♦ over the telephone ♦ pay telephone ♦ plain old telephone service ♦ plain Old Telephone System ♦ plan old telephone service ♦ private wire telephone circuit ♦ public switched telephone network ♦ public telephone ♦ radio telephone ♦ ring up smb. on the telephone ♦ slot telephone ♦ smart telephone ♦ subscriber's telephone line ♦ telephone aids ♦ telephone answering machine ♦ telephone answering service ♦ telephone Application Program Interface ♦ telephone bell ♦ telephone bill ♦ telephone book ♦ telephone booth ♦ telephone box ♦ telephone busy signal ♦ telephone call ♦ telephone central office ♦ telephone coincidental method ♦ telephone company ♦ telephone connection ♦ telephone conversation ♦ telephone cord ♦ telephone dial ♦ telephone directory ♦ telephone exchange ♦ telephone extension ♦ telephone handset ♦ telephone influence factor ♦ telephone installation ♦ telephone instrument ♦ telephone interview ♦ telephone jack ♦ telephone kiosk ♦ telephone line ♦ telephone mainlines ♦ telephone mainlines in largest city ♦ telephone mainlines,waiting time ♦ telephone message ♦ telephone network ♦ telephone nr 112 ♦ telephone number ♦ telephone operator ♦ telephone order ♦ telephone PBX ♦ telephone plug ♦ telephone pole ♦ telephone receiver ♦ telephone repeater ♦ telephone ringer ♦ telephone sellings ♦ telephone service ♦ telephone set ♦ telephone station ♦ telephone subscriber ♦ telephone subsystems ♦ telephone system ♦ telephone unit ♦ telephone user part ♦ telephone wire ♦ The Post Office's new family of computerised telephone exchanges ♦ touch telephone. Additional references.

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "telephone": telephone-answering, telephone-banking, telephone-book, telephone-box, telephone-call, telephone-calls, telephone-directory, telephone-first, telephone-hole, telephone-holes, telephone-network, telephone-number, telephone-operator, telephone-owning, telephone-PBX, telephone-polled, telephone-second, telephone-selling, telephone-set, telephone-style, telephone-table, telephone-tapping, telephone-to-computer, telephone-wire.

Ending with "telephone": mobile-telephone.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Telephone

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

calcutta telephone.com

3
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Telephone

Language Translations for "telephone"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Afrikaans

  

telefoon, skakel (link). (various references)

   

Albanian

  

telefon (phone, public telephone). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏هاتف (blower, phone, ring), ‏خاطب تلفونيا, ‏التلفون, ‏بعث رسالة بالتليفون. (various references)

   

Asturian

  

teléfonu. (various references)

   

Basque

  

telefono. (various references)

   

Bemba

  

lamya. (various references)

   

Blackfoot

  

iihtáípii'poyo'p. (various references)

   

Breton

  

bellgomz. (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

телефонирам (buzz, call, phone). (various references)

   

Catalan

  

telèfon. (various references)

   

Cebuano

  

telepono. (various references)

   

Chamorro

  

telefón. (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

電話 (phone call), 电话 (Phone, telephonic). (various references)

   

Cornish

  

pellgowser. (various references)

   

Croatian

  

telefona. (various references)

   

Czech

  

telefonovat (be on the phone, call, phone), telefon (blower, phone). (various references)

   

Danish

  

telefon (telephone set, telephone station). (various references)

   

Dutch

  

telefoon (telephone set), telefoneren, opbellen. (various references)

   

Esperanto

  

telefono. (various references)

   

Estonian

  

telefoni. (various references)

   

Faeroese

  

telefon. (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

تلفن کردن , تلفن زدن (Phone), تلفن (Phone), دورگو. (various references)

   

Finnish

  

puhelin (phone). (various references)

   

Flemish

  

telefonisch (by telephone). (various references)

   

French

  

téléphone (telephone set). (various references)

   

French Canadian

  

téléphone. (various references)

   

Frisian

  

telefoon, telefoan. (various references)

   

Galician

  

teléfono. (various references)

   

German

  

Telefon (phone), Telephon (phone), telefonieren (call, call up, make a phone call, phone, ring, ring up, to phone, to telephone), fernsprecher (subscripter's set, telephone set), fernsprechapparat (telephone set), anrufen (appeal, appeal to, buzz, call, call up, challenge, hail, invoke, make a phone call, phone, phone back, phone in, ring, ring up, shout to, summon, to buzz, to invoke). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

τηλέφωνο (phone), τηλεφωνώ (call, call up, phone, ring, ring up). (various references)

   

Haitian Creole

  

telefòn. (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

לטלפן (call, phone, ring, ring up), טלפון (phone). (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

telefon (hooter, horn, phone), telefonál (phone, to be on the line, to give sy a tinkle, to phone). (various references)

   

Icelandic

  

sími (cable, telegraph, wire), síma (telegraph). (various references)

   

Indonesian

  

telpon (phone), pendengar (audience, hearing, listener, receiver). (various references)

   

Inuktitut

  

uqaluuti. (various references)

   

Irish

  

teileafón, nguthán, guthán, ghuthán. (various references)

   

Italian

  

telefono (phone). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji