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telephone

Built from Greek têle 'far' and phōnḗ 'voice', the word named acoustic signalling gadgets in the 1830s, decades before Alexander Graham Bell attached it to his invention in 1876. The instrument then took its name around the world; China first borrowed it as délǜfēng before switching to Japan's translation 'electric speech'.

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700 BCEAncient Greek

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

telephone

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