What does "telco" mean?

A telephone company (historically); a telecommunications company, a telecom.

Telco

Q: What is a synonym for "telco"?

Common synonyms include: phone company, phone service, telephone company, telephone company, telephone service.

noun, slang

noun, slang ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1
A telephone company (historically); a telecommunications company, a telecom. informal
2
a public utility that provides telephone service wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

phone company phone service telephone company telephone company telephone service

Etymology

Diachronically, from tel + Co., from the collocation of Tel. Co. as seen, for example, in Bell Tel. Co. or the names of countless local telephone exchange companies (e.g., Savannah Valley Tel. Co., Mutual Tel. Co., Tarrytown Tel. Co.), by abbreviation in the late 19th through mid-20th centuries; synchronically also a clipped compound as tel(ephone) + co(mpany).

More for "telco"

Synonyms Sentences Pronunciation Translate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonyms See usage examples Check pronunciation Browse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.