Where does “television” come from?
television (English) comes from French télévision, from German Television, from Italian televisione, from Spanish televisión, from Spanish tele-, from Ancient Greek τῆλε, from Latin commūnicāre, from Latin commūnis — to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,...
television (English): An electronic communication medium that allows the transmission of real-time visual images, and often sound
Definitions
- An electronic communication medium that allows the transmission of real-time visual images, and often sound
Ancestry of “television”, step by step
television traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via French télévision
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | télévision | television |
| 2 | German | Television | — |
| 3 | Italian | televisione | television |
| 4 | Spanish | televisión | television |
| 5 | Spanish | tele- | tele |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | τῆλε | far off, afar, far away |
| 7 | Latin | commūnicāre | — |
| 8 | Latin | commūnis | common, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together |
| 9 | Old Latin | com(m)oinis | — |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | kommoinis | common |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moy-ni- | held in common |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 14 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 15 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 16 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 17 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 18 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 19 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 20 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |