telephonist

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-der.

Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle)lbor.

French télé-

Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂-der.

Proto-Hellenic *pʰōnā́

Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ)der.

French -phone

French téléphonebor.

English telephone

Proto-Indo-European *-id-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti

Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)

Proto-Hellenic *-tās

Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs)

Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor.

Latin -istader.

Old French -istebor.

Middle English -ist

English -ist

English telephonist

From telephone + -ist.

Noun

telephonist (plural telephonists)

1. A telephone operator.

Further reading

• “telephonist”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “telephonist, telephone operator”, in Google Books Ngram Viewer.