Where does “headphones” come from?
Headphones derives from English head and English phone, which comes from Ancient Greek φωνή, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰeh₂- meaning to speak or sound.
headphones (English): A pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so...
Definitions
- A pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so...
Ancestry of “headphones”, step by step
headphones traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English phones
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | phones | plural of phone; API pl; headphones |
| 2 | English | phone | A device for transmitting conversations and other... |
| 3 | English | telephone | A telecommunication device used for two-way... |
| 4 | French | téléphone | telephone; first-person singular present... |
| 5 | French | télé- | tele- |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | τῆλε | far off, afar, far away |
| 7 | Latin | commūnicāre | — |
| 8 | Latin | commūnis | common, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together |
| 9 | Old Latin | com(m)oinis | — |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | kommoinis | common |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moy-ni- | held in common |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 14 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 15 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 16 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 17 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 18 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 19 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
via English head
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | head | The part of the body of an animal or human which... |
| 2 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 3 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 4 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |