tele

1 of 2

noun

less common spelling of telly

British, informal

: television

… I asked parents what they thought of children's telly.

—Vanessa Feltz

While you were doing your couch potato number in front of the telly last Sun., 67-yr-old Zadu Taft was swimming across the Golden Gate …

—Berb Caen

Is there any truth to the hundreds of pieces of advice we hear from aunt Jane, who 'saw it on the tele'?

—Patrick Holler

tele-

2 of 2

combining form

variants or tel-

1

: distant : at a distance : over a distance

telegram

2

a

: telegraph

teletypewriter

b

: television

telecast

c

: telecommunication

telemarketing

Word History

Etymology

Combining form

New Latin, from Greek tēle-, tēl-, from tēle far off

Kids Definition

tele-

combining form

1

: at or over a distance

telegram

2

: television

telecast

Etymology

Combining form

derived from Greek tēle "far off"