Hughes telegraph
- noun
- /hjuːz ˈtɛlɪɡræf/
- Archaic
:
telégrafo Hughes
- The Hughes telegraph revolutionized communication by printing text directly onto paper tape.
Examples
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A working model of the Hughes telegraph is displayed in the museum's technology section.
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Historians often study the Hughes telegraph to understand advances in 19th-century telecommunications.
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The Hughes telegraph revolutionized communication in the 19th century.
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Many early inventors used the Hughes telegraph for sending messages.
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A working model of the Hughes telegraph is displayed in the museum's technology section.
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The Hughes telegraph revolutionized communication by printing text directly onto paper tape.
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Historians often study the Hughes telegraph to understand advances in 19th-century telecommunications.
Synonyms
4
9.3
A machine that types and sends written messages to distant places
1
9.8
An old machine that types and sends messages over wires
A machine like a typewriter that prints messages sent over wires
Surface Forms
Morphology
Hughes + telegraph
This is a straightforward proper-name + noun composition: a B1 learner who knows 'Hughes' is a person/name and 'telegraph' is a signalling device can infer it denotes a telegraph associated with (or invented by) Hughes. The precise historical or technical detail (printing on paper tape) is not predictable from the words, but the basic meaning 'a type/variant of telegraph linked to Hughes' is compositionally clear.
Etymology
Hughes telegraph is named after David Hughes, who built an early telegraph that printed letters onto a long strip of paper. Because the messages came out as written text on the paper, the name now means this early machine that 'printed' messages for people to read.