phonograph
phonograph Lexical Profile
phonograph Game Scores & Validity
• noun
American An audio device that plays sound from flat, grooved vinyl discs.
"She carefully lowered the needle onto the spinning record to play her favorite jazz album on the vintage phonograph."
An early sound-reproducing machine invented in the 19th century that recorded and played back audio using a stylus and engraved wax or tinfoil cylinders.
"The museum displayed an original Edison phonograph alongside several fragile wax cylinders containing historical speeches."
Word Nuance & Usage
In historical contexts, 'phonograph' refers specifically to Edison's cylinder-based recording invention, but in modern American English it is often used as a synonym for any record player. In British English, 'gramophone' is the preferred historical term for disc-playing machines.
• Rhymes for phonograph
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in 1877 by Thomas Edison, from the Greek words 'phōnē' (sound) and 'graphein' (to write), reflecting the machine's ability to 'write' and reproduce sound waves.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.