home video

noun

plural home videos
1
: a homemade video (see video entry 1 sense 1) that is not usually intended for commercial release or distribution
We showed our friends home videos of our vacation in the Caribbean.
People are consuming millions of hours of shaky, selfie-quality home video on their phones every day.Karen Bussone
… make a home video, using a cell phone or camera, of yourself performing your selection.The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, North Carolina)
2
: prerecorded video (see video entry 1 sense 1a) marketed for home viewing
The popular TV series … returns to home video with the DVD and Blu-ray releases of … Season Three.Mike Spring
It's not clear when other [streaming] platforms will add season four, but it usually takes several months for new seasons to receive a home video release …Business Insider US

Examples of home video in a Sentence

the latest releases in home video We watched a home video of their wedding.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The lawsuit was first filed in 2020, and Woodall was seeking $100 million in damages, but a court ruling last November narrowed the scope to only involve Disney's home video distribution, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, because the filing would have come too late. Lauren Huff, EW.com, 11 Mar. 2025 However, a claim survived against Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Disney’s home video subsidiary, because the DVD release was in 2017. Gene Maddaus, Variety, 10 Mar. 2025 This was a period when VHS was still the dominant home video format, and tapes sold to retail chains for well over 50 bucks a piece on a manufacturing cost of just a few dollars. Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2025 Topaz Labs View 1 Images Topaz Labs, which makes powerful photo and video enhancement software, just showed off a new AI model that automatically enhances old footage, from your home video collection to archival content that may have degraded over time on traditional media. New Atlas, 7 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for home video

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of home video was in 1980

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Cite this Entry

“Home video.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/home%20video. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025.

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