[f. TELE- + Gr. φήμη voice, report, message, etc.] Name for a message sent by telephone; a telephonic communication.
1882. W. Balestier, in Rochester (N. Y.) Post-Express, 5 Aug. (Cent. Dict.). We shall ask a dispensation to permit us to introduce a new word … telepheme. The use of such phrases as ‘telephonic communication,’ ‘telephonic message,’ ‘news by telephone,’ and the like seems a little clumsy.
1898. R. O. Heslop, Lett. to Editor. Telepheme: a telephonic message. The term is occasionally met with in commercial correspondence.
