Mike
/maɪk/noun
An informal term for a microphone, or a familiar short form of the name Michael.
Did you know?As a nickname, Mike descends from Michael, the Hebrew name Mīkāʾēl, traditionally interpreted as the rhetorical question “Who is like God?”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Semitic
*Mīkhāʾēl
“Who is like God?—a rhetorical Hebrew personal name”
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
מִיכָאֵל (Mīkāʾēl)
“Michael, literally “Who is like God?””
Ancient Greek
Greek
μῑκρός (mikrós)
“Small or little; the root later used in scientific compounds connected with the microphone”
17th Century
English
microphone
“A device for converting sound into electrical signals; formed from Greek mikros, “small,” and phōnē, “voice””
1920s
English
mike
“Informal clipped form of microphone”
Modern English
English
Mike
“A microphone, or the familiar short form of Michael”
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