telegraph

Where does the word "telegraph" come from? It comes from Greek tele, passing through French before entering English (1794).

Telegraph’s story begins in Greek: tele meant “far off.” Far off, combined with graphein (to write). By 1794, the word had taken hold in French as telegraphe. Coined by Chappe for his long-distance visual signaling system. It reached English by 1794 as telegraph. Claude Chappe's semaphore towers of 1794 were the first 'télégraphe'. Today, telegraph means a system or device for transmitting messages over a distance by electrical signal.

1. Stage 1 · Greek · ancient tele "far off", far off, combined with graphein (to write).
2. Stage 2 · French · 1794 telegraphe "far-writer", coined by Chappe for his long-distance visual signaling system.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1794 telegraph "a system for sending messages over long distances", Claude Chappe's semaphore towers of 1794 were the first 'télégraphe'.