handphone

English edit

two different handphones

Alternative forms edit

hand phone, hand-phone

Etymology edit

hand +‎ phone. For the sense of mobile phone, compare with Chinese 手機／手机 (shǒujī, literally “hand machine”) and Korean 손전화 (sonjeonhwa, literally “hand telephone”).

Noun edit

handphone (plural handphones)

(Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, South Korea, Hawaii) A mobile phone.
(rare, chiefly obsolete) A telephone receiver or handset.

Descendants edit

→ Korean: 핸드폰 (haendeupon)

References edit

“hand phone, noun.” under “hand, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2021; “handphone, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.