a telephone incorporating a video screen on which the other person may be seen speaking
We shall undoubtedly see videophones replacing telephones in common usage.
He closed the door, fastened the three plasto-windows and put a tracer on his videophone.
He looked for a message that might have been left for him, a more complete and personal account than could be intrusted to the videophone exchange.
Toward evening he surrendered and called Maltzerโs apartment by videophone.
Ashley rose. โWhere is your videophone?โ โIn the next room.โ
The videophone was signaling an incoming call.
antedating 1944
a book about television
The OED's citation is from a 1955 reprint of C. L. Moore's "No Woman Born". Mike Christie checked the original 1944 publication, and the term was not used there: Jeff Prucher found that the term was not used in a 1948 reprint, but does appear in a 1951 reprint.
OED subsequently found a 1944 example in a non-SF context. We would love to find an earlier example from a SF source.
Last modified 2020-12-16 04:08:47
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