Prefix · at a distance / far
Signals action or communication at a distance: television, telephone, telescope, telework.
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
Tele- comes from Greek "tele" (far, at a distance) and signals that something is done or happens from afar: telephone = voice at a distance; television = sight at a distance; telescope = an instrument to see far away; telecommute = work from home (at a distance from the office); telegraph = writing at a distance. The core idea is always "across a distance."
In the modern era, tele- remains highly productive: teleconference, telework, telehealth, telepresence. Digital technology has enormously expanded the reach of tele- to include any service or communication delivered remotely. Almost any service can now take tele- to signal its remote-delivery version: telehealth, tele-education, telebanking.
Attaches to nouns and verbs. Identical in Spanish and English:
Pronunciation: /ˈteli/, with a short "e." In British informal English, "telly" = the television. Identical in Spanish and English.
tele-/ˈteli/
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"Tele-" + scope = see objects far away (stars, planets). "Micro-" + scope = see objects too small for the naked eye (cells, bacteria). The prefix completely determines the function of the optical instrument.
"Television" means: (1) the physical device (the television = the TV set); (2) the medium (television has changed journalism); (3) the industry (she works in television). Context determines the meaning.
A trick to remember it
Tele- = "at a distance": telephone = voice at a distance, television = images at a distance, telescope = seeing distant objects, telework = working at a distance. Identical in Spanish and English. In the digital age, almost any service can take tele- to signal its remote version: telehealth, teleconference, telepresence.
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
"During the pandemic, millions of people began to ___ from home for the first time in their careers."
Exercise 3 · Pick the right one
What is the difference between "telescope" and "microscope"?
The prefix tele- signals action or communication at a distance: television, telephone, telescope, telework. In Spanish it usually maps to tele-.
The prefix tele- is pronounced /ˈteli/. For example, "television".
"vision" becomes "television". It is a typical example of the tele- prefix.
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