tannoy

English

Etymology

A genericised trademark of Tannoy Ltd, a manufacturer of public address systems. "Tannoy" is a syllabic abbreviation of tantalum alloy, which was the material used in a type of electrolytic rectifier developed by the company.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtænɔɪ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

tannoy (plural tannoys)

1. (British, colloquial) A public address system.
   • 2020 August 12, “Stop & Examine”, in Rail, page 70:

     Terry Putnam, from Weymouth, adds: "Riding home from Bristol a few days ago, as we approached Weymouth the guard announced over the tannoy 'The next station is Weymouth - please remember to take all your luggage and children with you...'"

Verb

tannoy (third-person singular simple present tannoys, present participle tannoying, simple past and past participle tannoyed)

1. (British, transitive, intransitive) To transmit, or communicate with, by means of a public address system.

Anagrams

• Antony