Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A melodramatic television series performed in Spanish or Portuguese, typically shown during prime time over several weeks or months.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A television soap opera presented as a miniseries

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Spanish : tele(visión), television (from tele-, tele- + visión, vision, from Latin vīsiō, vīsiōn-; see vision) + novela, novel (from Italian novella, news, story; see novel).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Spanish telenovela.

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Examples

  • The term telenovela derived from the Spanish and Portuguese terms for “novel” and “television” is the Hispanic equivalent of an American soap opera.

    The Emerging Markets Century Antoine van Agtmael 2007

  • "Capadocia" had the budget to spend a week shooting a single episode, compared to the typical Latin American telenovela which would do one episode in a day, Paisner said.

    CTV News RSS Feed 2009

  • Paisner said the three nominations for Capadocia reflect a growing trend toward higher quality television production in more countries outside the US Capadocia had the budget to spend a week shooting a single episode, compared to the typical Latin American telenovela which would do one episode in a day, Paisner said.

    Latest News - Yahoo!7 News 2009

  • Paisner said the three nominations for Capadocia reflect a growing trend toward higher quality television production in more countries outside the US Capadocia had the budget to spend a week shooting a single episode, compared to the typical Latin American telenovela which would do one episode in a day, Paisner said.

    Latest News - Yahoo!7 News 2009

  • Paisner said the three nominations for Capadocia reflect a growing trend toward higher quality television production in more countries outside the US Capadocia had the budget to spend a week shooting a single episode, compared to the typical Latin American telenovela which would do one episode in a day, Paisner said.

    Latest News - Yahoo!7 News 2009

  • My Peruvian colleagues and expedition co-leader, Rodolfo Salas, named it after a Colombian telenovela, which is like "Pedro El Escamoso," "Sleazy Pedro."

    New Species Of Extinct Giant Penguin Discovered 2010

  • My Peruvian colleagues and expedition co-leader, Rodolfo Salas, named it after a Colombian telenovela, which is like "Pedro El Escamoso," "Sleazy Pedro."

    New Species Of Extinct Giant Penguin Discovered 2010

  • My Peruvian colleagues and expedition co-leader, Rodolfo Salas, named it after a Colombian telenovela, which is like "Pedro El Escamoso," "Sleazy Pedro."

    New Species Of Extinct Giant Penguin Discovered 2010

  • My Peruvian colleagues and expedition co-leader, Rodolfo Salas, named it after a Colombian telenovela, which is like "Pedro El Escamoso," "Sleazy Pedro."

    New Species Of Extinct Giant Penguin Discovered 2010

  • "'Desperate Housewives' has many elements of a telenovela, which is the backbone of Latin American television," says Aranguibel.

    'Desperate' Translation 2008

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