What does telephoning mean?
Telephoning is the act of communicating with someone by telephone, including making or answering a call. In its most common use, it describes an activity in progress, as in a statement that someone is telephoning a colleague or customer. The word can also function as a gerund naming the activity generally: the business of telephoning may be handled by a separate department. It is used in both British and American English and has a largely neutral, practical tone. Although it is more formal and descriptive than the everyday terms phoning, calling, and, especially in British usage, ringing, it remains perfectly natural in reports, historical writing, journalism, and conversation. Its interest lies in its connection to the development of long-distance communication: telephoning once represented a remarkable expansion of the distance over which people could speak. Today, the word retains that historical association even when used simply to describe an ordinary phone call.
verb (present participle and gerund)Telephoning means communicating with someone by telephone or making a telephone call. It can also refer to the activity or process of making telephone calls.
- Communicating with someone by telephone or making a telephone call.
"She spent the afternoon telephoning donors and arranging appointments."
"He was telephoning a colleague when the power went out."
"The local business has been telephoning customers to confirm their orders."
Telephoning began as a way to send the human voice across great distances, before long-distance communication became ordinary.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does telephoning come from?
Telephoning is the present-participle and gerund form of telephone, a word formed in English in the nineteenth century from Greek roots meaning “far” and “sound” or “voice.” The development of the word reflects the invention of a system for transmitting speech over long distances. Related English forms include telephonic, an adjective relating to telephones, and telephonist, a person who works with or operates a telephone.
Related word forms
How telephoning is actually used
Telephoning is standard and broadly neutral in formal and informal English, although phoning and calling are often more natural in everyday speech. As a gerund, it can describe either an activity in progress or the general activity of making telephone calls.
Easily confused with telephoning
Telephoning is the act of making a telephone call, whereas telephony is the system or technology of communication by telephone.