Editing Optical telegraph (section)

==Etymology and terminology==
The word ''semaphore'' was coined in 1801 by the French inventor of the semaphore line itself, [[Claude Chappe]].<ref>''Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions & Discoveries of the 18th Century'', Jonathan Shectman, p. 172</ref> He composed it from the [[Greek language|Greek]] elements σῆμα (sêma, "sign"); and from φορός (phorós, "carrying"),<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary''.</ref> or φορά (phorá, "a carrying") from φέρειν (phérein, "to bear").<ref>''Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.</ref> Chappe also coined the word ''tachygraph'', meaning "fast writer".<ref>Beyer, Rick, ''The Greatest Stories Never Told'', A&E Television Networks / The History Channel, {{ISBN|0-06-001401-6}}, p. 60</ref> However, the French Army preferred to call Chappe's semaphore system the ''telegraph'', meaning "far writer", which was coined by French statesman [[André François Miot de Mélito]].<ref>Le Robert historique de la langue française, 1992, 1998</ref><ref name="Melito">{{cite book |last1=Miot de Mélito |first1=André |title=Mémoires du Comte Miot de Melito V.2 |date=1858 |publisher=Lévy |page=38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nXLWfRpf_FsC&dq=tachygraphe+chappe&pg=PA38 |access-date=12 October 2024}}</ref><ref name="Axon1880" />

The word ''semaphoric'' was first printed in English in 1808: "The newly constructed Semaphoric telegraphs (...) have been blown up", in a news report in the ''[[Naval Chronicle]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sherk |first=Bill |url=https://www.academia.edu/28929229 |title=500 Years of New Words |publisher=The Dundurn Group |year=2004 |isbn=1-55002-525-2 |location=Toronto |pages=210}}</ref> The first use of the word ''semaphore'' in reference to English use was in 1816: "The improved Semaphore has been erected on the top of [[Admiralty House, London|the Admiralty]]",<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sherk |first=Bill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E8t3hZgrVxkC&dq=%2522The+improved+Semaphore+has+been+erected+on+the+top+of+the+Admiralty%2522&pg=PA210 |title=500 Years of New Words: the fascinating story of how, when, and why these words first entered the English language |date=2004-09-01 |publisher=Dundurn |isbn=978-1-4597-1822-7 |pages=320 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol16/pt1/pp45-70 |title=Survey of London |chapter=The Admiralty |editor1-first= G. H. |editor1-last=Gater |editor2-first=E. P. |editor2-last=Wheeler |year=1935 |volume=16 |pages=45–70 |publisher=London County Council |via=British History Online}}</ref> referring to the installation of a simpler telegraph invented by [[Sir Home Popham]].{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} Semaphore telegraphs are also called, "Chappe telegraphs" or "Napoleonic semaphore".<ref>[http://www.saintefoyleslyon.fr/index.php?rubrique=142 Tour du télégraphe Chappe] {{in lang|fr}} {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928210813/http://www.saintefoyleslyon.fr/index.php?rubrique=142 |date=28 September 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Schofield |first=Hugh |date=2013-06-16 |title=How Napoleon's semaphore telegraph changed the world |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22909590 |access-date=2022-03-03}}</ref>