televise
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
-
to put (a programme) on television
-
(tr) to transmit (a programme, signal, etc) by television
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of televise
First recorded in 1925–30; back formation from television
Explanation
You're most likely to televise something if you work at a TV station — to televise is to transmit or broadcast on a television. A high school with a winning basketball team might decide to televise games on a local station so everyone in town can watch them on TV. Judges presiding over trials sometimes allow news channels to televise them, although often they don't. The verb televise grew out of the word television, modeled on verbs like revise and advise. The word television combines tele, "far off" in Greek, and vision, "something seen in the imagination," from a Latin root.
Vocabulary lists containing televise
Common Senses: Vid, Vis ("See")
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Far and Away: Tele
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Academy Awards, List 2
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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.
Riding alongside was Netflix, the streaming behemoth, which once famously said it didn’t care to televise real sporting events, and I guess we’ll have to take them at their word here.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 20, 2025
The fallout: a November settlement that allowed TNT Sports and Bleacher Report to broadcast games in certain international markets, but no more rights to televise live games in the United States.
From Slate • Jun. 10, 2025
The Gedling Inn, in Nottinghamshire, came up with the promotion to spread the word after it started to televise local Premier League games at the venue.
From BBC • Feb. 2, 2025
Discovery announced on Tuesday that they would join together and sell access to all of the sports they televise through a new streaming service.
From New York Times • Feb. 7, 2024
“Please join us in two weeks when we televise the finals from Washington. This is Charles Kingsley, good night.”
From "Out of My Mind" by Sharon M. Draper
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
