DictionaryAI

television

TEL-i-vizh-uhn/ˈtɛlɪˌvɪʒən/

Pluraltelevisions (some meanings)

6 meanings of television

Practice

  1. 1
    medium (like radio)noununcountable
    An electronic communication medium that transmits moving images, and often sound, to distant viewers.

    The debate was broadcast on television to an audience of millions.

    Television transformed political campaigns by putting candidates' faces in every living room.

    UsageThe medium takes on: shown on television; a television is the set.

    Note

    The medium took its name in 1900: tele- plus vision, probably shaped by French télévision, the term Constantin Perskyi used in a paper presented at a Paris conference. Delivery has moved from analog broadcast to digital terrestrial, cable, satellite and internet distribution. The name has stayed the same.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Television is attested in 1900 and combines tele- with vision, probably influenced by French télévision. en.wiktionary.org
    • Constantin Perskyi used télévision in a paper presented at a Paris conference in 1900. histv.net
    • Television distribution has expanded from analog broadcasting to digital terrestrial, cable, satellite and internet delivery, retaining the name television. en.wikipedia.org
  2. 2
    machinenouncountable
    An electronic home entertainment device with a screen and speakers that receives broadcast signals and displays them as moving pictures with sound.

    She mounted the television on the wall above the fireplace.

    The electronics store had dozens of televisions tuned to the same channel.

    UsageYou turn on or turn off the television (not incorrect: open the television); often shortened to TV.

  3. 3
    what is onnoununcountable
    The body of programs broadcast via the medium of television, considered collectively.

    Critics argue that streaming has produced some of the best television of the past decade.

    He doesn't watch much television, preferring books and podcasts.

    UsageUsually no article: watch television, too much television, daytime television.

  4. 4
    industrynoununcountable
    The industry that produces and broadcasts TV programs, considered as a business or as a career.

    After a decade as a newspaper reporter, she moved into television as a news producer.

    Advertising money has been leaving network television for streaming platforms.

    SimilarTV

    Note

    The preposition gives this meaning away. People work in television or move into television, with no article, the way they work in publishing or in law; someone on television, by contrast, is appearing on screen in the programs themselves. A producer has a career in television, while a guest is simply on it for an evening.

Less common meanings

  1. 5
    noundateduncountable
    The ability to see scenes or events as they occur at a distance, beyond the natural reach of sight.
    Note

    Here the word means only what its parts say, seeing far off, with no apparatus required. It is the literal reading of the 1900 coinage. Elizabeth Hazelton Haight's Essays on the Greek Romances (1943) still uses it this way: a magic mirror "furnished him television of his family and country."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The word has a literal sense of distant vision that does not necessarily involve technological apparatus. en.wiktionary.org
    • The word's components literally mean distant sight. en.wikipedia.org
    • The coinage dates to 1900. en.wiktionary.org
    • Elizabeth Hazelton Haight wrote Essays on the Greek Romances, first published in 1943. gutenberg.org
  2. 6
    verbcolloquial
    To watch television.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of television apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

First attested in 1900, formed from tele- and vision, and probably influenced by the French télévision, which came from Constantin Perskyi's 1900 paper, presented at a conference in Paris and later published.