Meaning

noun electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds

noun (phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language

noun electro-acoustic transducer for converting electric signals into sounds; it is held over or inserted into the ear

originEtymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-der. Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle)lbor. French télé- Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂-der. Proto-Hellenic *pʰōnā́ Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ)der. French -phone French téléphonebor. English telephone English phone Clipping of telephone; first attested in 1884.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0