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telecast

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Etymology and origin of the English word telecast

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1928 The Observer
Ultimate origins
Ancient Greek τῆλεEnglish broadcast

Pronunciation

  • /ˈtɛlɪkæst/, /ˈtɛlɪkɑːst/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English tele- + -cast,[2] the first part standing for television[3][4] and the second taken from broadcast.[2][3][4] Dictionary.com likewise analyses it as a shortening of television joined to the end of broadcast.[5] The first element goes back to Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “far off, afar”).[2][3] Barnhart records both the noun and the verb as American English.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A television broadcast or programme: 1928, in the Observer of 23 December.[2] Barnhart and Etymonline date the noun to 1937,[4][3] as did the 1989 edition of the OED.[6]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to broadcast a film, event or programme on television, followed in 1931, in a Minnesota newspaper;[2] older dictionaries dated it to 1940[4][3][6] and Merriam-Webster to 1937.[7][8] The word belongs to a group of formations made with the same second element after broadcast in the first half of the 20th century, such as newscast and narrowcast.[2] The verb televise, a back-formation from television, is slightly older, recorded from 1926.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 1928 – noun, a television broadcast or programme.[2]
  • 1931 – verb, to broadcast on television.[2] Barnhart and Etymonline date the verb to 1940.[4][3]
  • 1937 – telecasting, the act of broadcasting by television, and telecaster, one who broadcasts on television.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A television broadcast, or a programme shown on television: Millions watched the live telecast of the final.[9][10][2]

Verb

  1. To broadcast a programme or event by television: The station will telecast the concert on Sunday.[9][10][2]
  2. To broadcast a television programme.[9][8]

Word family

  • telecaster

Usage notes

The past tense and past participle are usually telecast, sometimes telecasted.[7][10]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Telecast.” Etymologically, 2 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/telecast. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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