circular faces with numbers or markings that measure something, like on a clock or speedometer; also, a verb meaning to call someone on a telephone or to adjust something using a rotating control.
From Late Latin 'dialis' (daily, of a day), related to 'dies' (day). Originally meaning a daily allowance or schedule, the word evolved to describe sun dials (which track daily time), then expanded to any circular measuring device. The telephone sense came with dial phones.
The word 'dial' traveled from sun dials (tracking the sun's daily path) to clock dials to phone dials to modern touchscreen displays—it shows how a single word can carry an ancient concept across completely different technologies! We still say 'dial' even though nobody rotates anything anymore.
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