- a combining form meaning “distant,” especially “transmission over a distance,” used in the formation of compound words: telegraph.
- a combining form meaning “end,” “complete,” used in the formation of compound words: telestich.
combining form
- at or over a distance; distanttelescope; telegony; telekinesis; telemeter
- televisiontelecast
- by means of or via telephone or television
word-forming element meaning “far, far off,” from Greek tele-, combining form of tele “far off, afar, at or to a distance,” related to teleos (genitive telos) “end, goal, result, consummation, perfection,” literally “completion of a cycle,” from PIE *kwel-es- (cf. Sanskrit caramah “the last,” Breton pell “far off,” Welsh pellaf “uttermost”), from root *kwel- (see cycle (n.)). pref.
- Distance; distant:teletherapy.
- A prefix that means at a distance, as in telemetry.