minitel

Minitel

noun mee-nee-TEL Rare

Origin: French brand name; French Minitel videotex network launched 1980.

Usage Note

Minitel is a borrowed French trade name for the French videotex online service (réseau Minitel), widely used in France from the 1980s until 2012. In Italian texts it appears as a historical reference to early online services; it is invariable and masculine by convention for foreign technology nouns.

Examples

"Il Minitel era diffuso in Francia negli anni '80."

Natural Translation

Minitel was widespread in France in the '80s.

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