A prefix meaning 'distant' or 'far away,' used in words like 'television' and 'telephone.'
From Greek 'tele,' meaning 'far off' or 'at a distance.' This prefix was used in ancient Greek but exploded in usage during the 19th and 20th centuries as technology allowed communication across distances. It's one of the most productive modern prefixes.
Tele- is one of the busiest prefixes in modern English—we keep making new 'tele-' words as technology evolves: telehealth, telecommute, telework—and ancient Greeks would find it wild that we're using their word for 'distant' for instant video calls!
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