Audiphones

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Devices designed to transmit sound directly to the ears for private listening; apparatus worn over or in the ears to enhance audio perception; electrical instruments intended to deliver audio signals discretely to the user
2. Equipment worn on or in the ear to allow individual listening to music or other sounds; headphones or earphones used to hear audio privately; sound-transmitting devices placed near the ears for personal use
3. Personal sound-receiving instruments that cover or fit in the ears to enable isolated listening; audio delivery tools facilitating individual auditory reception; ear-mounted devices providing direct acoustic input to the listener

Etymology: "Audiphone" is the plural form of a noun meaning an ear-worn listening device, so its history sits in the singular. The word is built from "audi-", a combining form drawn from the Latin verb "audire", meaning "to hear", and "-phone", from the Greek "phōnē", meaning "sound" or "voice". The same Greek element gives us "telephone" and "microphone", and "audiphone" follows that pattern: a device that carries or amplifies sound for the listener. Because the word is a plural, its meaning is simply the plural of that device name. Its origins are the classical roots above, combined in a modern technical coinage rather than an ancient one.

Synonyms: headphones, earphones, headsets, earbuds, listening devices