What does videocassette mean?
A videocassette is a rigid plastic cassette containing magnetic tape for recording and playing back moving images with sound. It became especially familiar during the era of home video, when films, concerts, educational programs, and family recordings were distributed or kept on physical cassettes. The word can refer either to the cassette as a physical object or, informally, to the recording contained inside it. It is closely associated with analog media and should be distinguished from a videotape, which refers more specifically to the magnetic tape or its recorded content. Today the term is dated and often carries nostalgic associations with video shops, home recording, and the gradual replacement of physical media by digital formats. It nevertheless remains useful when describing historical technology, collections of older recordings, or the preservation of audiovisual material.
nounA videocassette is a rigid plastic cassette containing magnetic tape on which moving images and sound can be recorded and played back. The term is chiefly associated with analog video-recording systems used before digital media became dominant.
- A plastic cassette holding magnetic tape used to record and play back moving images together with sound.
"She found an old family videocassette and played it on the television."
"The documentary was released on videocassette before appearing on television."
"They packed several videocassettes for the long journey home."
The usual plural, used when referring to multiple physical cassettes or distinct recorded programs.
"The archive contains hundreds of videocassettes."
Before streaming, a videocassette was a portable library containing movies, concerts, and home recordings—all enclosed in a box small enough to carry.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of videocassette
The word is a compound of video and cassette. Video was formed in the early twentieth century from Latin videō, “I see,” and is also the source of words such as visual and videography. Cassette was borrowed from French, where it denotes a small box or case, while the compound videocassette developed as a name for a cassette holding recorded moving images.
How videocassette is actually used
The word is now dated or nostalgic, referring chiefly to a technology associated with home video recording and playback. In current use, it is more common in discussions of collecting, preservation, and obsolete media than in everyday speech.
Easily confused with videocassette
A videocassette is the physical cassette housing, whereas a videotape is the magnetic tape itself or the recorded program carried on such tape.