phone
/ˈfoʊn/noun, verb
Telephone device; also, to call someone
From Greek, via French tele- (afar).
Lineage
tele-
-phone
GreekRomanceGermanicnot directly attested
Selected stage
Modern English
phone — Telephone device; also, to call someone
The story
As a noun, phone is the clipped everyday name for a telephone; as a verb, it means to call someone. English phone was clipped from telephone, and the shortened form is first attested in 1884.
The longer word combines French télé- with -phone. The prefix comes from Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle), “afar,” while -phone comes through French from Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ), “sound” or “voice.” The full word telephone was modeled on German Telephon; the name’s elements evoke a voice carried across a distance.