What does telethon mean?
A telethon is an extended television broadcast or fundraising event designed to collect money for charity or another cause. It often combines musical performances, celebrity appearances, sponsor announcements, and repeated appeals for donations, with totals announced throughout the broadcast. In modern usage, the word most commonly refers to a televised charity event, but it can also describe a long fundraising drive using telephone pledges or related forms of mass communication. Telethons are especially associated with large-scale disaster relief, medical research, children’s charities, and public-service campaigns. The word has a practical rather than strongly emotional register: it identifies the format and purpose of the event without necessarily endorsing it. Its name combines television and marathon, reflecting the combination of extended broadcasting and sustained fundraising that defines the tradition.
nounA television broadcast or extended television event organized to raise money for charity or another cause. The term may also refer more broadly to a lengthy fundraising campaign conducted through television or telephone appeals.
- An extended televised fundraising event or broadcast, typically featuring entertainers, sponsors, and appeals for donations.
- A lengthy fundraising campaign conducted by telephone or other mass communication, especially one associated with a broadcast event.
"The hospital held a star-studded telethon that raised more than two million dollars for cancer research."
"The local television station devoted its entire evening to a telethon for the regional food bank."
"Volunteers spent the afternoon answering telephone pledges during the charity telethon."
The standard plural is telethons, used when referring to multiple fundraising broadcasts or events.
"Several telethons were scheduled to support the campaign."
A telethon is literally a television marathon: the word was coined in the 1940s by blending “television” and “marathon,” two names for extended broadcasting and endurance.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does telethon come from?
Telethon is an English blend of television and marathon, coined in the 1940s for extended televised fundraising events. The television element combines the Greek-derived prefix tele-, meaning “at a distance,” with Latin visio, “a seeing.” Marathon comes through Latin from Greek Marathon, the place associated with the famous race, and here conveys the idea of an extended event.
How telethon is actually used
The word is neutral and common in journalism, broadcasting, and fundraising contexts. It is also used figuratively for a long or intensive fundraising effort, although its primary modern sense refers to a televised charity event.