Phrase guide

black-and-white television

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A monochrome system of transmitting and receiving television signals.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A television set that displays only monochrome images.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Retronym for television, coined after the invention of colour television to refer specifically to the type of television existing before then.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 黑白電視 /黑白电视 (hēibái diànshì) — system
  • Finnish: mustavalkotelevisio — system
  • German: Schwarz-Weiß-Fernsehen — system
  • Japanese: 白黒テレビ (shirokuro terebi) — system
  • Korean: 흑백(黑白)텔레비전 (heukbaektellebijeon) — system
  • Polish: telewizja czarno-biała — system
  • Portuguese: televisão a preto e branco — system
  • Russian: чёрно-бе́лое телеви́дение (čórno-béloje televídenije) — system
  • Chinese Mandarin: 黑白電視 /黑白电视 (hēibái diànshì) — set
  • Chinese Mandarin: 黑白電視機 /黑白电视机 (hēibái diànshìjī) — set
  • Finnish: mustavalkotelevisio — set
  • German: Schwarz-Weiß-Fernseher — set
  • Polish: telewizor czarno-biały — set
  • Portuguese: televisão a preto e branco — set
  • Portuguese: televisor a preto e branco — set
  • Russian: чёрно-бе́лый телеви́зор (čórno-bélyj televízor) — set