telegraph

Definition

Synonym of telegraphy, any process for transmitting arbitrarily long messages over a long distance using a symbolic code.

Etymology

Borrowed from French télégraphe, equivalent to tele- (“far, distant”) + graph (“writing”), suggested as a new name for Claude Chappe's overland semaphore network by André François Miot de Mélito in place of Chappe's original tachygraphe (“tachygraph, fast writer”).

Example Sentences

• "This strict sense of telegraph developed from French usage for Napoleon's overland semaphore network but rather arbitrarily excludes similar Chinese and other signalling networks."
• "The first message transmitted by telegraph in the United States was WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT."
• "The Bat—they called him the Bat.[…]. He[…]played a lone hand,[…]. Most lone wolves had a moll at any rate—women were their ruin—but if the Bat had a moll, not even the grapevine telegraph could locate her."

Related Words