different between phone vs phones

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /f???n/
• (US) IPA^(key): /fo??n/
• Rhymes: -??n, -o?n

Etymology 1

Clipping of telephone; attested by 1884.

Alternative forms

• 'phone (dated)

Noun

phone (plural phones)

1. A device for transmitting conversations and other sounds in real time across distances, now often a small portable unit also capable of running software etc.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

• phonecall
• phoneless
• speakerphone

Related terms

• phone sex
• phone tag

Descendants

• ? Hindi: ???? (fon)
• ? Irish: fón
• ? Portuguese: fone
• ? Urdu: ???? (fon)
• ? Welsh: ffôn

Translations

See also

• Thesaurus:phone

Verb

phone (third-person singular simple present phones, present participle phoning, simple past and past participle phoned)

1. (transitive) To call (someone) using a telephone.

Synonyms

• call, ring, telephone

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek ???? (ph?n?, “sound”).

Noun

phone (plural phones)

1. (phonetics) A speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties, considered as a physical event without regard to its place in the phonology of a language.

Related terms

• phonetic
• phonetically
• phonetics
• phonology
• phoneme

Translations

Anagrams

• nepho-, pheno-, pheon

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?n/

Noun

phone m (plural phones)

1. phon (a unit of apparent loudness)
2. (linguistics) phone

Verb

phone

1. first-person singular present indicative of phoner
2. third-person singular present indicative of phoner
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of phoner
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of phoner
5. second-person singular imperative of phoner

Further reading

• “phone” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f??nz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /fo?nz/

Noun

phones

1. plural of phone

Noun

phones pl (plural only)

1. (informal) headphones
   • 1990, Home & Studio Recording (volume 4, page 33)

     I don't like wearing phones for any length of time, but these are as comfortable as any I've tried. The only problem is that their isolation is so good, you feel cut off from the outside world and you can't hear what people are saying about you.

Verb

phones

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of phone

Anagrams

• pheons, poshen, spheno-

French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: phone, phonent

Verb

phones

1. second-person singular present indicative of phoner
2. second-person singular present subjunctive of phoner