Switchboard

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈswɪt͡ʃˌbɔɹd/

Definitions

1. A device used to connect and direct telephone calls manually or automatically ; a panel for housing electrical connections and wiring organized for distribution
2. An apparatus that routes phone conversations by connecting circuits ; a board containing terminals and wires to manage electrical paths
3. A system enabling the linking of telephone lines for calls ; a structured board where electrical cables are connected for power or signal distribution

Etymology: A switchboard is, quite literally, a board of switches, and the surprise lies in how the "switch" part was originally a different kind of object. Early "switch" in English referred to a slender flexible twig or whip, and only later came to mean a device for diverting or interrupting something. The electrical sense grew out of the railway sense, where a switch moved a train from one track to another, and telephone exchanges borrowed the idea of routing a current to the right destination. The "board" element is older and more familiar, a flat piece of wood or panel onto which equipment could be mounted. Put together, the compound describes a panel where many switches sit side by side, which is exactly what early telephone operators sat before, plugging and unplugging cords to connect one caller with another. The same arrangement later served electrical distribution, so the term covers both telephone exchanges and power-control panels.

Synonyms: control panel, console, interface, hub, matrix