noun
gramophone
GRAM-uh-fohn/ˈɡræməfəʊn/
An old-fashioned device for playing sound from records.
The gramophone has a broad brass horn above its turntable.
Etymology
The pieces suggest sound preserved as a physical mark. The name reverses phonogram, originally the tracing made by a recording needle, to name the machine that records and reproduces sound.
In context
we're unboxing this crazy gramophone style record player
More examples
- A large horn rose above the gramophone.
- He wound the gramophone before lowering the needle.
- The museum displayed an early gramophone.
Forms
gramophone · gramophones
Similar words
- phonograph
- Phonograph is the usual American term for a record-playing machine; gramophone often evokes an older machine.
- turntable
- A turntable is the rotating record platform or its unit; gramophone names the complete playback machine.