phonograph

/ˌfoʊnəˈgræf/

/ˈfʌʊnəgræf/

Other forms: phonographs

A phonograph is a record player, an old-fashioned machine that plays music recorded on an engraved disk. The phonograph was the first machine that could both record and play sounds.

Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, and it evolved first into the gramophone and then the record player or turntable. Phonographs are distinguished by the large horns through which music is broadcast. A record revolves on the phonograph's base, and when the stylus or needle is placed on top, it vibrates and reproduces the recorded sounds. The word comes from the Greek roots phono, "sound," and graph, "instrument for recording."

Definitions of phonograph

1. noun

   machine in which rotating records cause a stylus to vibrate and the vibrations are amplified acoustically or electronically
   synonyms: record player

   types:

   acoustic gramophone, gramophone

   an antique record player; the sound of the vibrating needle is amplified acoustically

   jukebox, nickelodeon

   a cabinet containing an automatic record player; records are played by inserting a coin

   Victrola

   a brand of gramophone

   type of:

   machine

   any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks