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entryphone

entryphone

8.0
A telephone at a building entrance that lets people inside speak to visitors before letting them in
  • noun
  • /ˈɛntriˌfoʊn/
  • UK
translation icon : portero
  • The entryphone allows residents to talk to guests before granting them access.

Examples

  • Before letting the delivery person in, she spoke to him through the entryphone.

  • I buzzed him in through the entryphone after confirming his identity.

  • The entryphone crackled, but no one spoke.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • (ENTRYPHONE RINGS)

Synonyms

door phone
vsentryphone
  • Indian
4.2

A device at a building entrance that lets people inside talk to visitors outside before opening the door

is a voice communication system at the entrance rather than a single device
doorbell phone
vsentryphone
4.4

A system that lets a person at the door talk to a person inside

is a voice communication system not necessarily linked to a visitor alert

How Secure

access code
  • Specialized
44 3.1
videophone
7 4.0
entryphone
  • UK
8.0
intercom
70 3.4
doorbell
144 1.0

Surface Forms

entryphone singular
entryphones plural

Morphology

entryphone = entry + phone (transparent) = entry + phone

Meaning is directly derived from the combination 'entry' + 'phone': a phone located at the building entrance used to communicate with visitors.

Etymology

Entryphone is made of entry (a 'way in') and phone, short for telephone ('sound over distance'), so it literally means a 'sound device at the entrance'. So, an entryphone lets people speak at the building door before someone lets them in.