tele-
(TEL-uh)far or distant
Greek for far. Television sees far; telephone hears far; telescope looks far.
The story behind this root
Greek tele meant far. Every telephone, telescope, telegram, and television is doing something at a distance — hearing far, seeing far, writing far.
Example words
telephone
a device that carries voices across distance
telescope
a tool for seeing far away
television
a device that shows pictures from far away
telegraph
a system that sends written messages over distance
Words in our dictionary that use this root
Every dataset word containing tele-, with the parts it shares with other roots in our set.
telegraph
a system that sends written messages over distance
telephone
a device that carries voices across distance
telegram
a message sent by telegraph
telescope
a tool for seeing far away
television
a device that shows pictures from far away
Common Core alignment
Grades served: 4, 5
- L.4.4bUse common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., telegraph, photograph, autograph).
- L.5.4bUse common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., photograph, photosynthesis).
Place & direction. Roots that locate things: under, over, between, before, after.
Browse all place & direction roots →