means A device that converts sound waves into electrical signals so they can be amplified, recorded, or transmitted.

from Stitched together from Greek: 'mikros' meaning small, plus 'phone' meaning sound or voice — the same 'phone' that echoes through telephone, megaphone, and saxophone. The word arrived in the 17th century to describe an instrument for making faint sounds audible, long before electricity got involved; the modern electrical sense settled in once inventors learned to turn vibrating air into a current.