television

[tel-uh-vizh-uh n] /ˈtɛl əˌvɪʒ ən/

noun

the broadcasting of a still or moving image via radiowaves to receivers that project a view of the image on a picture tube.

the process involved.

a set for receiving television broadcasts.

the field of television broadcasting.

Origin

1905-10; tele-¹ + vision

Related forms

televisional

[tel-uh-vizh-uh-nl] /ˌtɛl əˈvɪʒ ə nl/ (Show IPA), adjective

televisionally, adverb

televisionary

[tel-uh-vizh-uh-ner-ee] /ˌtɛl əˈvɪʒ əˌnɛr i/ (Show IPA), adjective

pretelevision, adjective

Examples from the web for television

They've also extended the party well past game time, often catching the plays on radio or television as they continue feasting.
My discipline is communications, specifically film, television and radio production and criticism.
He was also a regular television and radio commentator.
Until that point, television's mission was as a delivery vehicle for entertainment and clear communication.
Communication satellites allow us instant access to information all over the world using radio, television, and phones.
Twenty independent radio and television stations have received licenses.
Tell us which shows from the new television season will be ratings winners and which will be canceled.
College courses based around television shows or movies are nothing new.
And he wants to change television in ways that viewers will notice more.
Making a television set is an involved industrial process.

British Dictionary definitions for television

television

/ˈtɛlɪˌvɪʒən/

noun

the system or process of producing on a distant screen a series of transient visible images, usually with an accompanying sound signal. Electrical signals, converted from optical images by a camera tube, are transmitted by UHF or VHF radio waves or by cable and reconverted into optical images by means of a television tube inside a television set

Also called television set. a device designed to receive and convert incoming electrical signals into a series of visible images on a screen together with accompanying sound

the content, etc, of television programmes

the occupation or profession concerned with any aspect of the broadcasting of television programmes: he's in television

(modifier) of, relating to, or used in the transmission or reception of video and audio UHF or VHF radio signals: a television transmitter

Derived Forms

televisional, adjective
televisionally, adverb
televisionary, adjective

Word Origin

C20: from tele- + vision

Word Origin and History for television

1907, "the action of seeing by means of Hertzian waves or otherwise, what is existing or happening at a place concealed or distant from the observer's eyes" [OED]; in theoretical discussions about sending images by radio transmission, formed in English or borrowed from French télévision, from tele- + vision. Other proposals for the name of this then-hypothetical technology were telephote (1880) and televista (1904). The technology was developed in the 1920s and '30s. Nativized in German as Fernsehen.

Television is the first truly democratic culture -- the first culture available to everyone and entirely governed by what the people want. The most terrifying thing is what people do want. [Clive Barnes, "New York Times," Dec. 30, 1969]

Meaning "a television set" is from 1955. Shortened form TV is from 1948.

television in Technology

hardware
A dedicated push media device for receiving streaming video and audio, either by terrestrial radio broadcast, satellite or cable.
(1997-11-23)