by 1878 [Des Moines Register, May 16], colloquial shortening of telephone (n.), "generally applied to the receiver, but sometimes to the whole apparatus" [Century Dictionary, 1895]. Phone book "publication listing telephone numbers and their associated names" is by 1920; phone booth "small enclosure or stall provided with a public pay-telephone" is by 1906; phone bill "statement of charges for telephone service" is by 1901; phone number (short for telephone number) is by 1906.

"to call on the telephone," 1884, colloquial, from phone (n.). Related: Phoned; phoning.

"elementary sound of a spoken language, one of the primary elements of utterance," 1866, from Greek phōnē "sound, voice" (from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say").

dictation recording and reproduction machine, trademarked by the Columbia Graphophone Company in 1907; from dictation + -phone. A separate company from 1923.

also pay-phone, "telephone requiring a coin deposit to operate," 1906, from pay (v.) + phone (n.).

word-forming element meaning "voice, sound," also "speaker of," from Greek phōnē "voice, sound" of a human or animal, also "tone, voice, pronunciation, speech," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, say, tell" (source also of Latin for, fari "to speak," fama "talk, report").

"video-telephone," 1964, from picture (n.) + phone (n.1).

Buck Rogers thought it up more than 25 years ago, and Bell System has been working on it here for 15 years. Now it's here.

It is called Picturephone, and it is a small television camera and receiver that allows telephone users to gaze into the features of the person they are talking to.

Whether this really is a boon to mankind remains to be seen.

["Picturephones Are On The Way," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Aug. 28, 1970]