Videocast

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A format for delivering Internet-based video content that resembles podcasting in structure while often exploring various themes or subjects
2. A method of providing video material online similar to audio podcasts, typically focusing on diverse topics or discussions
3. A digital format that combines video with a podcast-like approach for sharing ideas or themes across platforms

Etymology: "Videocast" is a plain blend of two existing words: "video," from Latin "videre," meaning "to see," and "-cast," which is shortened from "broadcast." The "cast" in "broadcast" originally meant something quite literal, the scattering of seed by hand across a field, and "broadcast" was first used for sowing before it came to mean sending signals out to a wide audience by radio. Pairing that sense with "video" gives a term for video sent out to a large, unseen audience over the internet. The formation follows the same pattern as older compounds like "telecast" and "webcast," which were built on the same "-cast" ending. Here the "-cast" element is detached from the full word and joined to a new first half, so the term works as a kind of shorthand for a broadcast made of moving pictures. The result is a word that carries the old agricultural image of scattering seed, now applied to scattering video across the internet.

Synonyms: video broadcast