telegram

[Greek tēle =afar off, suff. -gram. Formed from telegraph on the analogy of monogram, chronogram, logogram, . The word was first used in America in 1852, and was the subject of a long and learned discu ion in the English newspapers previous to its adoption in that country. Several eminent philologists proposed the term tele grapheme instead.] A telegraphic me age or dispatch; a communication sent by telegraph. "There is, as against the exact but surfeiting tele grapheme, our lawle telegram , to which is strictly applicable the maxim of the civilians, as regards a clandestine marriage, 'Fieri not debuit, sed, factum, valet.' "-Fitzedward Hall: Modern English , p. 158. To milk a telegram : Surreptitiously to obtain and make use of a telegram intended for another. ( Slang .) *těl-ě-grăm-mic, a. [Eng. telegram; -ic.] Of or pertaining to a telegram; having the nature of a telegram; hence, brief, concise.