Telephone in Different Languages
Discover 'Telephone' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Telephone
Afrikaans telefoon | ||
Albanian telefonit | ||
Amharic ስልክ | ||
Arabic هاتف | ||
Armenian հեռախոս | ||
Assamese টেলিফোন | ||
Aymara telefono tuqi jawst’ata | ||
Azerbaijani telefon | ||
Bambara telefɔni | ||
Basque telefonoa | ||
Belarusian тэлефон | ||
Bengali টেলিফোন | ||
Bhojpuri टेलीफोन पर फोन कइले बानी | ||
Bosnian telefon | ||
Bulgarian телефон | ||
Catalan telèfon | ||
Cebuano telepono | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 电话 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 電話 | ||
Corsican telefunu | ||
Croatian telefon | ||
Czech telefon | ||
Danish telefon | ||
Dhivehi ފޯނުންނެވެ | ||
Dogri टेलीफोन | ||
Dutch telefoon | ||
English telephone | ||
Esperanto telefono | ||
Estonian telefon | ||
Ewe telefon dzi | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) telepono | ||
Finnish puhelin | ||
French téléphone | ||
Frisian telefoan | ||
Galician teléfono | ||
Georgian ტელეფონი | ||
German telefon | ||
Greek τηλέφωνο | ||
Guarani teléfono rupive | ||
Gujarati ટેલિફોન | ||
Haitian Creole telefòn | ||
Hausa tarho | ||
Hawaiian kelepona | ||
Hebrew טֵלֵפוֹן | ||
Hindi telephone | ||
Hmong xov tooj | ||
Hungarian telefon | ||
Icelandic sími | ||
Igbo ekwentị | ||
Ilocano telepono | ||
Indonesian telepon | ||
Irish teileafón | ||
Italian telefono | ||
Japanese 電話 | ||
Javanese telpon | ||
Kannada ದೂರವಾಣಿ | ||
Kazakh телефон | ||
Khmer ទូរស័ព្ទ | ||
Kinyarwanda telefone | ||
Konkani टेलिफोनाचेर फोन करचो | ||
Korean 전화 | ||
Krio tɛlifon | ||
Kurdish telefûn | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) تەلەفۆن | ||
Kyrgyz телефон | ||
Lao ໂທລະສັບ | ||
Latin telephono | ||
Latvian tālrunis | ||
Lingala telefone | ||
Lithuanian telefonu | ||
Luganda essimu | ||
Luxembourgish telefon | ||
Macedonian телефон | ||
Maithili टेलीफोन पर | ||
Malagasy telefaonina | ||
Malay telefon | ||
Malayalam ടെലിഫോണ് | ||
Maltese telefon | ||
Maori waea | ||
Marathi टेलिफोन | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯇꯦꯂꯤꯐꯣꯅꯗꯥ ꯐꯣꯟ ꯇꯧꯕꯥ꯫ | ||
Mizo telephone hmanga phone a ni | ||
Mongolian утас | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) တယ်လီဖုန်း | ||
Nepali टेलिफोन | ||
Norwegian telefon | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) foni | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଟେଲିଫୋନ୍ | | ||
Oromo bilbilaan bilbiluu | ||
Pashto ټلیفون | ||
Persian تلفن | ||
Polish telefon | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) telefone | ||
Punjabi ਟੈਲੀਫੋਨ | ||
Quechua telefono nisqawan | ||
Romanian telefon | ||
Russian телефон | ||
Samoan telefoni | ||
Sanskrit दूरभाषः | ||
Scots Gaelic fòn | ||
Sepedi mogala | ||
Serbian телефон | ||
Sesotho mohala | ||
Shona runhare | ||
Sindhi ٽيليفون | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) දුරකථන | ||
Slovak telefón | ||
Slovenian telefon | ||
Somali taleefan | ||
Spanish teléfono | ||
Sundanese telepon | ||
Swahili simu | ||
Swedish telefon | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) telepono | ||
Tajik телефон | ||
Tamil தொலைபேசி | ||
Tatar телефон | ||
Telugu టెలిఫోన్ | ||
Thai โทรศัพท์ | ||
Tigrinya ቴሌፎን ስልኪ | ||
Tsonga riqingho | ||
Turkish telefon | ||
Turkmen telefon | ||
Twi (Akan) telefon so | ||
Ukrainian телефон | ||
Urdu ٹیلیفون | ||
Uyghur تېلېفون | ||
Uzbek telefon | ||
Vietnamese điện thoại | ||
Welsh ffôn | ||
Xhosa umnxeba | ||
Yiddish טעלעפאָן | ||
Yoruba tẹlifoonu | ||
Zulu ucingo |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "telefoon" ultimately derives from the Greek "tēle" (far) and "phōnē" (sound), referring to its ability to transmit sound over long distances. |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "telefonit" derives from the Greek "tēlephōnēin," meaning "to speak from afar". |
| Amharic | "ስልክ" is derived from the Greek "tele" and "phone" (meaning sound) |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "هاتف" (telephone) originally referred to a "summoner" or a "caller" and later came to refer to the communication device that allows one to call others over a distance. |
| Azerbaijani | The word "telefon" is derived from the Greek words "tele" and "phone," and literally means "far-sounding." |
| Basque | The word "telefonoa" can also be used to refer to the human ear. |
| Bengali | The word 'টেলিফোন' is derived from the Greek words 'τελε' (tele), meaning 'far,' and 'φωνή' (phōnē), meaning 'voice,' indicating its purpose as a device for transmitting sound over long distances. |
| Bosnian | The word 'telefon' is derived from the Greek word 'tele', meaning 'far', and 'phōnē', meaning 'sound'. |
| Bulgarian | The word "телефон" (telephone) in Bulgarian also means "device that transmits at a distance". |
| Catalan | The word "telèfon" in Catalan derives from the Greek words "tele" (far) and "phone" (sound), and was first coined by German scientist Johann Philipp Reis in 1860. |
| Cebuano | The term "telepono" in Cebuano originated from the Greek words "tele," meaning "far," and "phone," meaning "voice." |
| Chinese (Simplified) | "电话", the Sino-Japanese word for "telephone," also means "electric speech". |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 電話 is also a Buddhist term meaning "telepathy." |
| Corsican | Its word for telephone, "telefunu", is a blend of the words "telegrafo" and "telefono". |
| Croatian | In Croatian, the word "telefon" can also refer to a landline telephone, a handset, or the act of making a phone call. |
| Czech | In Czech, "telefon" can also refer to a speakerphone or a conference call. |
| Danish | "Telefon" can also mean "big ear" in Danish. |
| Dutch | The word "telefoon" comes from the Greek words "tele," meaning far, and "phone," meaning sound. |
| Esperanto | For Esperanto-speakers, telefono can mean "telephone" or "bone from the thigh or leg" (in anatomy). |
| Estonian | The Estonian word "telefon" is derived from the Greek words "tele" (far) and "phone" (sound), indicating its function as a device for transmitting sound over long distances. |
| Finnish | "Puhelin" is the Finnish word for "telephone", but it also literally means "speaker" or "one that speaks". |
| French | Téléphone can also refer to the telephone network or a telephone line. |
| Frisian | The Frisian noun 'telefoan' is derived from the Greek words 'tēle' ('far') and 'phōnē' ('sound'). |
| Galician | In Galician, "teléfono" also refers to a specific type of landline telephone known as a "teléfono de rueda" or "rotary phone". |
| German | The German word "Telefon" derives from the Greek words "tele" for "far" and "phone" for "sound". |
| Greek | The Greek term τηλέφωνο (telephone), originating from τηλε (tele, "distant") and φωνή (phōnē, "sound"), also encompasses broader communication methods. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "ટેલિફોન" comes from the Greek words "tele" meaning "far" and "phone" meaning "sound" or "voice". |
| Haitian Creole | The term comes from the Greek tele-, “far” + fon-, “sound,” indicating its nature as a device for transmitting sound over long distances. |
| Hausa | "Tarho" derives from Arabic "talihraf" meaning "distortion" because of the garbled sounds that came over the early device. |
| Hawaiian | Its literal meaning is "giving voice to the distance," a fitting description of the telephone's original purpose. |
| Hebrew | The word טֵלֵפוֹן derives from the Greek words τηλε (tele, meaning “far”) and φωνή (phone, meaning “voice”). |
| Hindi | The word 'TELEPHONE' (टेलीफ़ोन) in Hindi comes from the Greek words 'tele' meaning 'far' or 'distant' and 'phone' meaning 'sound' or 'voice'. The invention was named so because it allowed communication over a distance through sound. |
| Hmong | The term "xov tooj" literally means "mouth of the house". |
| Hungarian | "Telefon" also means "snail's pace" in Hungarian. |
| Icelandic | "Sími" also denotes a small, thin piece of wood used as a bookmarker. |
| Igbo | The Igbo word "ekwentị" is derived from the English words "connect" and "telephone". |
| Indonesian | The Indonesian word "telepon" is ultimately derived from the Greek words "tele" (far) and "phone" (sound). |
| Irish | " Teileafón" comes from the Greek words "tele," meaning "far," and "phone," meaning "sound" |
| Italian | The Italian word "telefono" comes from the Greek words "tele," meaning "far," and "phōnē," meaning "voice". The word was coined by French inventor Charles Bourseul in 1854. |
| Japanese | "電話" literally means "electric speech" in Japanese. |
| Javanese | The Javanese word "telpon" is a shortened form of "télépon genggam," meaning "handheld telephone." |
| Kannada | The Kannada word "ದೂರವಾಣಿ" literally means "a sound from far away". |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "телефон" can also refer to a "landline telephone". |
| Korean | "전화" (telephone) is a loanword from Japanese, which in turn comes from the Greek "tēle" (far) and "phōnē" (voice). It can also mean "telephone number" or "call someone on the phone" in Korean. |
| Kurdish | The Kurdish word "telefûn" ultimately derives from the Greek word "tēlephōnos", meaning "voice from afar". It can also refer to a mobile phone. |
| Kyrgyz | The Kyrgyz word "телефон" derives from Greek "tele" meaning "far" and "φωνή" meaning "sound". |
| Lao | "ໂທລະສັບ" comes from the Greek words "τῆλε" (tēle), meaning "far," and "φώνη" (phōnē), meaning "voice," and so literally means "far-sounding." |
| Latin | In Latin, "telephono" literally translates to "far" (tele) and "sound" (phono), indicating the transmission of sound over distance. |
| Latvian | The word "tālrunis" is a compound of the words "tāls" (distant) and "runis" (speaker). |
| Lithuanian | In Romanian, the word "telefonu" also means "telegraphy", derived from the Greek "tele" (far) and "phōnē" (voice). |
| Luxembourgish | In Luxembourgish, "Telefon" also refers to a mobile phone's SIM card. |
| Macedonian | The word is derived from the Greek words "tele" meaning "far" and "phōnē" meaning "sound." |
| Malagasy | TELEFAONINA is derived from the French word "téléphone" which in turn comes from the Greek words "tele" (far) and "phone" (voice). |
| Malay | In Malay, "telefon" refers not only to the telephone but also colloquially to a "public phone booth" |
| Malayalam | "ടെലിഫോണ്" is the Malayalam word for "telephone", which is derived from the Greek words "tele" (far) and "phone" (sound). |
| Maltese | Maltese "telefon" derives from Ancient Greek "tēle" (far) + "phōnē" (sound), cognate with "telephone" in various Indo-European languages. |
| Maori | In Maori, the word _waea_ can also refer to a fishing line or the strands of a spiderweb. |
| Marathi | In Marathi, |
| Mongolian | "Утас" also means "wire", hence the name of the telephone. |
| Nepali | In English, "telephone" originally meant "speaking from afar" and was coined by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. |
| Norwegian | In Norwegian, "telefon" originates from the Greek "tele" (far) and "φωνή" (voice), emphasizing the device's ability to transmit sound over distance. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "foni" is derived from the Greek word "phone", which means "sound". |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "ټلیفون" comes from the Greek words "τῆλε" (far) and "φωνή" (sound), meaning "long-distance sound." |
| Persian | The word "تلفن" (telefon) is derived from the Greek words "τῆλε" (tēle), meaning "far", and "φωνή" (phōnē), meaning "voice" or "sound". |
| Polish | In Polish, "telefon" also means "earphone". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese, "Telefone" can also refer to a type of traditional Portuguese guitar with a teardrop-shaped body and wire strings. |
| Punjabi | The word "ਟੈਲੀਫੋਨ" comes from the Greek words "tele" (meaning "far") and "phone" (meaning "sound") and was coined by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "telefon" comes from the Greek "tēle" (far) and "phōnē" (voice), meaning "sound from afar". It can also mean "intercom" in some contexts. |
| Russian | The word "телефон" in Russian has its roots in the Greek words "tele" (far) and "phone" (sound), meaning "far-sounding". |
| Samoan | The word "telefoni" in Samoan is derived from the Greek words "tele" and "phone," and also refers to "radio" or "broadcast." |
| Scots Gaelic | The Gaelic word "fòn" can also refer to an ear or hearing. |
| Serbian | The Russian "телефон" borrowed from French "téléphone", but it has a more recent alternate use as a homograph meaning "cell phone". |
| Sesotho | The word 'mohala' is derived from the Sesotho word 'hohala', meaning 'to shout'. |
| Shona | The word "runhare" is derived from the Shona word "runhare", meaning "hare", as the telephone line was strung from pole to pole like a hare running. |
| Sindhi | In Sindhi, the word "ٽيليفون" does not have any alternate meanings besides "telephone". |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word "දුරකථන" is derived from the Sanskrit words "dura" (far) and "kathana" (speech), meaning "talking from afar". |
| Slovak | The word "telefón" in Slovak is derived from the Greek words "tēle" (far) and "phōnē" (sound) |
| Slovenian | The word 'telefon' originates from the Greek words 'tele' (far) and 'phōnē' (sound). |
| Somali | Somali "taleefan" comes from Arabic "tilfün" which derives from Greek "tēle" (far, distant) and "phōnē" (voice). |
| Spanish | The word "teléfono" in Spanish comes from the Greek roots "tele" (far) and "phonos" (sound). |
| Sundanese | Telepon in Sundanese can also refer to a person who uses a telephone. |
| Swahili | Although "simu" means "telephone" in Swahili, it originally meant "thing for hearing with". |
| Swedish | The name 'telefon' in Swedish is also used for the speaking tube or intercom system used on ships. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Telepono" comes from the Greek words "tele" and "phone", meaning "far" and "voice", respectively. |
| Tajik | In Tajik, "телефон" can also mean mobile phone, smartphone, landline, or any other type of device used for communication. |
| Tamil | தொலைபேசி means 'telephone', but it literally translates to 'far away sound' in Tamil. |
| Telugu | "టెలిఫోన్"(telephone) is derived from the Greek words "tele," meaning "far," and "phone," meaning "voice." |
| Thai | โทรศัพท์ derives from Greek roots meaning "distance speech" and is unrelated to Thai, where it replaced a longer, native term for the same device |
| Turkish | "Telefon" (telephone) originates from the Greek words "tele" (far) and "phone" (sound), meaning "far sound." |
| Ukrainian | The word "телефон" is derived from the Greek words "τῆλε" (far) and "φωνή" (voice). |
| Urdu | Urdu word "ὍE ٹیلیفون" (telephone) is derived from Greek "τῆλε" (tele, "far") and "φῶν" (phone, "voice"). |
| Uzbek | The word "telefon" in Uzbek also has the alternate meaning of "to talk on the phone; to call someone on the phone". |
| Vietnamese | The word "Điện thoại" originally referred to a specific type of telephone, the "điện thoại bàn" (landline telephone), as opposed to mobile phones, which were later introduced. |
| Welsh | The word "ffôn" is derived from the Greek word "phonē", meaning "sound". It can also refer to a "call", "voice" or an "instrument for producing sound." |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word “umnxeba” literally translates to “a thing that makes one hear”. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word 'טעלעפאָן' derives from the Greek 'τῆλε' (far) and 'φωνή' (voice), reflecting its function as a device for transmitting sound over distance. |
| Yoruba | Tẹlifoonu, derived from "tele" (distant) and "fonu" (voice), refers not only to the telephone, but also traditional systems for long-distance voice transmission, like the Yoruba `àkààrà`. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word "ucingo" means "a call" or "to call". |
| English | The word 'telephone' derives from the Greek roots 'tele,' meaning 'far', and 'phone,' meaning 'sound', hence 'sound from afar'. |