"phone, telephone" in seven languages
Meaningphone, telephone
Spanish
/teˈlefono/
masc.learned
A mobile is a móvil in Spain, a celular in Latin America.
French
/telefɔn/
masc.learned
A mobile is a portable.
Italian
/teˈlɛfono/
masc.learned
A mobile is a cellulare or telefonino.
Portuguese
/teleˈfɔni/
masc.learned
A mobile is a celular in Brazil, a telemóvel in Portugal.
Romanian
/teleˈfon/
neut.learned
Catalan
/təˈlɛfun/
masc.learned
English
/foʊn/
from Latin/French · short for telephone, from Greek
The ancestor
Greek tēle + phōnḗ‘far + voice (a 19th-century coinage)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
A modern Greek-built word, identical everywhere except for spelling: ph in English and French, f in Spanish and Italian. Spanish and Italian stress the third syllable from the end.
English relatives: telephone, phonetics, microphone, symphony
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¿Puedo usar tu teléfono?
- frJe peux utiliser ton téléphone ?
- itPosso usare il tuo telefono?
- ptPosso usar seu telefone?
- roPot să folosesc telefonul tău?
- caPuc fer servir el teu telèfon?
- enCan I use your phone?