What does colorcasted mean?
"Colorcasted" is the past tense and past participle of "colorcast," a verb meaning to transmit a television program in color. The term belongs chiefly to the vocabulary of broadcast history, describing the period from roughly the 1950s through the 1970s when networks gradually shifted from black-and-white to color transmission. A sentence such as "the station colorcasted its first World Series in 1966" uses the word naturally. Because color broadcasting is now universal, the word has little everyday use today and survives mostly in archival writing, journalism about television history, and technical accounts of the medium's development. It is a transparent compound of "color" and "(tele)cast," following the same pattern as "broadcast" and "telecast." Writers should note that it is uncommon enough that some readers may find it unfamiliar, though it remains accurate when discussing historic color transmissions.
verb (past tense and past participle of 'colorcast')Past tense and past participle of colorcast: broadcast a television program in color rather than black-and-white.
- To have transmitted a television or radio program in color.
"The network colorcasted the championship game for viewers at home."
"The station colorcasted its first major sporting event in the late 1960s."
"By the mid-1970s most American networks had colorcasted their flagship evening programs."
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of colorcasted
Colorcast is a compound of "color" (from Latin "color") and "cast" as used in "broadcast" and "telecast." It arose in the United States during the era of transition to color television, roughly the 1950s–1960s. Related formations include telecast and simulcast.
How colorcasted is actually used
Rare and largely historical; used mainly in discussions of early color television history. The base verb 'colorcast' is more common than its inflected forms.
Easily confused with colorcasted
'Broadcasted' is a widely accepted past tense of broadcast; 'broadcast' is also commonly uninflected, while 'colorcasted' specifically refers only to broadcasting in color.