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tele

or tel·ly

[tel-ee]
noun British Informal.
  1. television.
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Origin of tele

by shortening

tele.

  1. television.
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tele-1

  1. a combining form meaning “distant,” especially “transmission over a distance,” used in the formation of compound words: telegraph.
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Also tel-, telo-.

Origin of tele-1

combining form representing Greek têle far, akin to télos end (see tele-2)

tele-2

  1. a combining form meaning “end,” “complete,” used in the formation of compound words: telestich.
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Also tel-, teleo-, telo-.

Origin of tele-2

combining form representing Greek télos end, and téleios perfected; akin to teleîn to fulfill
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tele

Historical Examples

  • I thought perhaps you'd send her a tele—, you know what I mean, and perhaps she could come for us that way.

    Two Little Waifs

    Mrs. Molesworth

  • At another place it was named Tangaloa tele, for a similar reason.

British Dictionary definitions for tele

tele-

before a vowel tel-

combining form
  1. at or over a distance; distanttelescope; telegony; telekinesis; telemeter
  2. televisiontelecast
  3. by means of or via telephone or television
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Word Origin

from Greek tele far
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tele

tele-

word-forming element meaning "far, far off," from Greek tele-, combining form of tele "far off, afar, at or to a distance," related to teleos (genitive telos) "end, goal, result, consummation, perfection," literally "completion of a cycle," from PIE *kwel-es- (cf. Sanskrit caramah "the last," Breton pell "far off," Welsh pellaf "uttermost"), from root *kwel- (see cycle (n.)).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
tele in Medicine

tele-

pref.
  1. Distance; distant:teletherapy.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
tele in Science

tele-

  1. A prefix that means “at a distance,” as in telemetry.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.