telegram

Definitions

tele- (far) + gram (written message) = a message written at a distance and carried by wire. Coined in the 1850s: the telegraph is the instrument and system; the telegram is the actual message it delivers.

Why It Means This

telegram (the message) vs telegraph (the system) is the textbook contrast for this root family: gram is the written thing delivered, graph is the means of writing it at a distance. Largely historical now, but the word survives as a brand name and in 'congratulatory telegram.'

Common Collocations

• 1.send a telegram发电报
• 2.receive a telegram收到电报
• 3.urgent telegram加急电报
• 4.congratulatory telegram贺电

Example Sentences

• 1.

  Before phones were common, people sent a telegram for urgent news.

• 2.

  She received a telegram announcing her brother's safe arrival.

• 3.

  The couple was flooded with congratulatory telegrams on their wedding day.