# telegraph

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈtɛl.ɪ.ɡɹɑːf/ · frequency rank #7,186

## Definitions
1. Synonym of telegraphy, any process for transmitting arbitrarily long messages over a long distance using a symbolic code.
2. The electrical device gradually developed in the early 19th century to transmit messages (telegrams) using Morse code; the entire system used to transmit its messages including overhead lines and transoceanic cables.
3. A visible or audible cue that indicates to an opponent the action that a character is about to take.

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **telegram** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/telegram-vs-telegraph)

## Common misspellings (14)
`etlegraph`, `teelgraph`, `telegarph`, `teleggraph`, `telegrahp`, `telegraphh`, `telegrapph`, `telegrpah`, `telegrraph`, `telergaph`, `telgeraph`, `tellegraph`, `tleegraph`, `ttelegraph`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/telegraph