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Picturephone

American  
[pik-cher-fohn] / ˈpɪk tʃərˌfoʊn /
Trademark.
  1. a brand of videophone that enables telephone users to see each other while talking.


Etymology

Origin of Picturephone

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Visitors were dazzled by color-television demonstrations and the Picturephone, an early video-calling system that prefaced technologies developed decades later.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026

The Picturephone, which was equipped with a video camera and a screen, allowed curious New Yorkers to chat with and simultaneously look at people using the same device in Anaheim, California.

From Slate • Jun. 29, 2016

Space Objects Registry, Telstar has been orbiting the earth since its launch in 1962, when Bell Labs still held hope for the Picturephone.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2012

Two weeks ago A.T.&T. announced that it will soon cross yet another frontier in technology: it will put into public operation the world's first see-as-you-talk Picturephone service.

From Time Magazine Archive

Do you have any idea what this means once the Picturephone becomes a common household appliance?

From Time Magazine Archive

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