autophony
|au-to-pho-ny|
🇺🇸
/ˌɔːtəˈfoʊni/
🇬🇧
/ˌɔːtəˈfəʊni/
hearing one's own sound/voice
Etymology
'autophony' originates from Greek roots, specifically 'auto-' meaning 'self' and 'phōnē' meaning 'voice' or 'sound'.
'autophony' is a modern medical coinage formed from Greek elements (Greek 'autophōnía' conceptually 'self-voice') via New Latin/medical terminology and was adopted into English usage in medical literature in the late 19th to early 20th century.
Initially a literal compound meaning 'self-sound' or 'self-voice'; over time it became a specialized medical term denoting the symptom of hearing one's own voice or internal sounds, often linked to eustachian tube conditions.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a medical symptom in which a person hears their own voice or internal bodily sounds (such as breathing or heartbeat) unusually loudly, often associated with eustachian tube dysfunction (e.g., a patulous eustachian tube).
The patient reported autophony, noticing that his voice sounded unnaturally loud inside his ear.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/11/27 18:05