What does audiphone mean?
An audiphone is a device designed to assist people with hearing loss by collecting sound waves and directing them into the ear without any electrical amplification. Most famously associated with an invention patented in the United States in 1879, the typical audiphone took the form of a flexible, fan-shaped plate — often made of vulcanite or similar material — which the user held close to the ear and angled toward the source of sound, much as one might cup a hand behind the ear in a more refined way. The name combines Greek roots meaning 'hearing' and 'sound'. Audiphones appeared in an era when ear trumpets were the standard assistive device, offering a discreet alternative that could be disguised as or concealed within everyday items such as fans. With the arrival of electronic amplification in the twentieth century, both ear trumpets and audiphones became obsolete, replaced by modern hearing aids. Today the word survives mainly in historical and museological contexts, though it occasionally resurfaces as a trade name for contemporary hearing products.
nounA device for aiding hearing, consisting typically of a fan-shaped or diaphragm-like plate held near the ear to collect and direct sound; an early form of non-electrical hearing aid.
- A fan-shaped or plate-like instrument held to or near the ear to gather and concentrate sound, used as a non-electric hearing aid in the late 19th century.
"Before electronic amplifiers, a gentleman with fading hearing might raise his audiphone to his ear at the theatre."
"The patent drawing showed a flexible audiphone that could be angled toward the speaker."
"Museums of medical history often display ear trumpets alongside the later audiphone."
Regular plural formation.
"Early catalogues sold audiphones in several sizes and materials."
Long before batteries and microchips, people with hearing loss simply fanned a cleverly shaped plate of vulcanite toward their ear — the audiphone was the Victorian era's elegant answer.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of audiphone
The word audiphone was coined in the nineteenth century from Greek roots: 'audio-', from Latin 'audire' (to hear), itself borrowed from Greek 'akouein'-related traditions via Latin, combined with '-phone', from Greek 'phōnē' meaning voice or sound. The term entered English with the patenting of Rhodes's audiphone in the United States in 1879, joining a family of sound-related coinages such as telephone and phonograph that flourished in the same period.
How audiphone is actually used
The word is chiefly historical, belonging to late 19th- and early 20th-century usage; modern devices are called hearing aids. It may be encountered in historical texts, museum catalogues, and accounts of deaf education.
Easily confused with audiphone
An audiphone is a hearing-assistance device; an audiophile is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction.