1540s; agent noun from amplify. Electronic sense is from 1914; shortened form amp is from 1967. Alternative stentorphone (1921) did not catch on.
Entries linking to amplifier
amplify v.
early 15c., "to enlarge, expand, increase," from Old French amplifier (15c.), from Latin amplificare "to enlarge," from amplus "large" (see ample) + combining form of facere "to make, do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). The meaning "augment in volume or amount" is from 1570s. The restriction of use to sound seems to have emerged from c. 1915 in reference to radio technology.
amp n.
1886 as an abbreviation of ampere; 1967 as an abbreviation of amplifier.
preamplifier n.
"a device designed to amplify a weak source and pass it to another amplifier," 1929, from pre- + amplifier. Shortened form pre-amp is attested by 1957.