Meanings
plural telcos
- informalA telephone company (historically); a telecommunications company, a telecom.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna public utility that provides telephone service
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Diachronically, from tel + Co., from the collocation of Tel. Co. as seen, for example, in Bell Tel. Co. or the names of countless local telephone exchange companies (e.g., Savannah Valley Tel. Co., Mutual Tel. Co., Tarrytown Tel. Co.), by abbreviation in the late 19th through mid-20th centuries; synchronically also a clipped compound as tel(ephone) + co(mpany).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish puhelinyhtiö
- puhelinyhtiötelephone company
French compagnie de téléphone, opérateur
- compagnie de téléphonetelephone company
- opérateurtelephone company
- opérateur téléphoniquetelephone company
German Telefongesellschaft
- Telefongesellschafttelephone company
Japanese 電話会社
- 電話会社 (denwa gaisha)telephone company
Russian телефо́нная компа́ния
- телефо́нная компа́ния (telefónnaja kompánija)telephone company
Vietnamese công ty viễn thông, hãng viễn thông
- công ty viễn thôngtelephone company
- hãng viễn thôngtelephone company
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
telco. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/telco
“telco.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/telco. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “telco,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/telco.
Source: telco on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.