MP3

English

Etymology

An initialism of MPEG Audio Layer 3. First use appears c. 1994. See cite below.

Noun

MP3 (plural MP3s)

1. A digital sound recording in MP3 format; a song file.
   • 2000, “The Real Slim Shady”, in The Marshall Mathers LP, performed by Eminem:

     I should download her audio on MP3 / And show the whole world how you gave Eminem VD

Proper noun

MP3

1. (audio file format) MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, an audio data compression format.
   • 1994 November 6, Francois Dion, “Does anyone know of .mpa to .wav conversion software.”, in comp.multimedia‎ (Usenet):

     Also, mpeg audio streams are usually identified by mp1, mp2 and mp3 extensions, all from MPEG-1 (layer 1 , 2 or 3).

   • 2019 June 27, Jack Schofield, “What’s the best cheap tablet or e-reader for PDF files?”, in The Guardian‎:

     A smartphone is not the best camera, notebook, word processor, audio recorder, radio, MP3 player, map reader, pedometer and so on, but it is good enough replace numerous separate devices for most people most of the time.

Derived terms

• MP3 CD
• MP3 player

Related terms

• MP4

Translations

MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3

Arabic: إِم بِي ثْرِي m (ʔem bī ṯrī), إم بي 3 m (ʔem bī ṯrī), إم بي 3 m (ʔem bī ṯalāṯa), إم بي ٣ m (ʔem bī ṯrī), إم بي ٣ m (ʔem bī ṯalāṯa), MP3 m (ʔem bī ṯrī), MP3 m (ʔem bī ṯalāṯa), إِم بِي ثَلَاثَة m (ʔem bī ṯalāṯa) Chinese: Mandarin: MP3 (zh) Czech: MP3 f Dutch: mp3 (nl) m Finnish: MP3 (fi) German: MP3 (de) n (emm-pee-drei) Greek: έμ-πι-θρί (ém-pi-thrí), έμ-πι-τρία (ém-pi-tría), MP3 Hindi: एम् पी ३ (em pī 3), एम् पी थ्री (em pī thrī), MP3 Japanese: エムピースリー (emu-pī-surī), MP3 (ja) (MP3) Korean: 엠피쓰리 (empisseuri), MP3 (ko) Persian: ام‌پی‌تری (em-pi-teri) Polish: MP3 (pl) n Portuguese: MP3 (pt) m Russian: эм-пи-три́ m (em-pi-trí), MP3 m Thai: เอ็มพีสาม (em pee săam), เอ็มพี๓ (em pee săam), เอ็มพี 3 (em pee săam), MP3 (MP3) Turkish: MP3 (em-pi-üç) Xibe: ᠠᡞᠮ ᡦᡞ ᠰᠠᠨ (aim pi san)

Further reading

• MP3 on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Chinese

Etymology

Partial calque of English MP3. From English MP3 + 三 (sān, “three”). Compare Thai เอ็มพีสาม (em-pii-sǎam) < English MP3 + สาม (sǎam, “three”) ( < Middle Chinese 三 (MC sam)).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): áimu-pì-sān

  (Zhuyin): ㄞˊ ˙ㄇㄨ ㄆㄧˋ ㄙㄢ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): em¹ pi¹ saam¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: MP3
    • Zhuyin: ㄞˊ ˙ㄇㄨ ㄆㄧˋ ㄙㄢ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: áimůpìsan
    • Wade–Giles: ai²-mu⁵-pʻi⁴-san¹
    • Yale: ái-mu-pì-sān
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: air.mupihsan
    • Palladius: аймуписань (ajmupisanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀaɪ̯³⁵ mu³ pʰi⁵¹ sän⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: em¹ pi¹ saam¹
    • Cantonese Pinyin: em¹ pi¹ saam¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ém¹ pi¹ sam¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɛːm⁵⁵ pʰiː⁵⁵ saːm⁵⁵/

Noun

MP3

1. MP3
2. short for MP3播放器 (áimu-pì-sān bōfàngqì)
3. short for MP3播放機／MP3播放机 (áimu-pì-sān bōfàngjī)

Related terms

• MP4 (áimu-pì-sì)

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

MP3

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from English MP3.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛm.pɛˈtʂɘ/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɘ
• Syllabification: M‧P‧3

Noun

MP3 n (indeclinable)

1. MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, an audio data compression format)

   Coordinate term: MP4

2. (music) MP3 (digital sound recording in MP3 format; a song file)

   Synonym: (colloquial) empetrójka

   Coordinate terms: (colloquial) empeczwórka, MP4

3. (music) MP3 player (electronic device for playing digital audio files in the MP3 format (and, in many cases, also files in some other formats and/or including a radio function))

   Synonyms: (colloquial) empetrójka, odtwarzacz MP3

   Coordinate terms: (colloquial) empeczwórka, MP4

Further reading

• MP3 in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• MP3 in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

Noun

MP3 m (invariable)

1. MP3 player

   Synonym: (Brazil) tocador de MP3

Further reading

• “MP3”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025