Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Megaphone
/ˈmɛɡəfoʊn/noun
A cone held to the mouth that makes a voice carry across a crowd or a field.
The Greek roots
μέγας
mégas
great, large
φωνή
phōnḗ
voice, sound
Literally: “big voice”
The story of the word
Edison named the megaphone in 1878, and his device was as much for hearing as for shouting: two long funnels for the ears and a third for the mouth, meant to let two people hold a conversation a mile apart. The listening half was abandoned and the speaking cone kept the name. Greek had μεγαλοφωνία, loudness of voice, but no instrument to go with it.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 1878
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
megalithmegabytetelephonesymphony
In a sentence
A steward with a megaphone was sending people back down the hill.
She did not need a megaphone to be heard at the back.