α. Corresponding to former trade names 1900s ansafone, 1900s ansophone, 1900s– ansaphone.
β. 1900s– answerphone.
answerphonen.
/ˈɑːnsəfəʊn/, /ˈansəfəʊn/, U.S. /ˈænsərˌfoʊn/ = answering machine n. at answering n. Compounds.
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > telephone > system or equipment for leaving voice messages
answerphone1917
answering machine1924
answerer1959
voicebank1978
voicemail1980
voice mailbox1980
voice messaging1981
voice box1984
1917 Telephony 28 Apr. 41/3 Incoming calls may be answered as readily by the Ansophone as by a human being when the office manager is out.
1934 U.S. Patent 2,072,316 1/2 A message may be delivered without the presence of anyone at the answer phone.
1959 Economist 2 May 456/2 The Ansaphone is comparable in size with the tape recorder which it superficially resembles.
1972 N. Y. Mag. 26 June 63/2 With the Ansafone you can dial in for your messages from any phone in the world.
1984 Daily Tel. 2 Feb. 3/3 Clients on the third line will hear an answerphone message asking them to try again five minutes later.
2006 S. Tucker Playground Mafia xvi. 245 The answerphone beeps. I doodle absent-mindedly on the notepad by the phone, waiting for the next message to start.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1917