telenovela

See also: télénovela

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-der.

Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle)der.

Spanish tele-

Proto-Indo-European *nu

Proto-Indo-European *néwos

Proto-Italic *nowos

Latin novus

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -lus

Latin -ellus

Latin novellus

Vulgar Latin *novella

Italian novellabor.

Spanish novela

Spanish telenovelabor.

English telenovela

Borrowed from Spanish telenovela.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌtɛlənə(ʊ)ˈvɛlə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌtɛlənəˈvɛlə/, /ˌtɛlənoʊˈvɛlə/
• Rhymes: -ɛlə

Noun

telenovela (plural telenovelas)

1. A television soap opera presented as a miniseries.

Derived terms

• Chinovela
• Koreanovela

Translations

television soap opera presented as a miniseries

• French: télénovela (fr) f
• Galician: telenovela f
• Georgian: ტელენოველა (ṭelenovela)
• Greek: τηλενουβέλα (el) f (tilenouvéla)
• Hebrew: טלנובלה (he) f (telenovéla)
• Hungarian: telenovella
• Italian: telenovela (it) f
• Polish: telenowela (pl) f
• Portuguese: telenovela (pt) f
• Spanish: telenovela (es) f

Galician

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-der.

Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle)der.

Galician tele-

Proto-Indo-European *nu

Proto-Indo-European *néwos

Proto-Italic *nowos

Latin novus

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -lus

Latin -ellus

Latin novellus

Vulgar Latin *novella

Italian novellabor.

Galician novela

Galician telenovela

From tele- + novela.

Noun

telenovela f (plural telenovelas)

1. soap opera/telenovela

Italian

Etymology

From Portuguese tele- +‎ novela.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌte.le.noˈvɛ.la/, (traditional) /ˌtɛ.le.noˈvɛ.la/
• Rhymes: -ɛla
• Hyphenation: te‧le‧no‧vè‧la

Noun

telenovela f (plural telenovele)

1. telenovela (especially one from South America)

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Portuguese tele-

Proto-Indo-European *nu

Proto-Indo-European *néwos

Proto-Italic *nowos

Latin novus

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -lus

Latin -ellus

Latin novellus

Vulgar Latin *novella

Italian novellabor.

Portuguese novela

Portuguese telenovela

From tele- + novela.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌtɛ.le.noˈvɛ.lɐ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌtɛ.lɛ.nuˈvɛ.lɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌtɛ.lɛ.nuˈvɛ.lɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌtɛ.lɛ.nuˈbɛ.lɐ/ [ˌtɛ.lɛ.nuˈβɛ.lɐ]

• Hyphenation: te‧le‧no‧ve‧la

Noun

telenovela f (plural telenovelas)

1. soap opera/telenovela

   Synonym: novela

Further reading

• “telenovela”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “telenovela”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-der.

Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle)der.

Spanish tele-

Proto-Indo-European *nu

Proto-Indo-European *néwos

Proto-Italic *nowos

Latin novus

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -lus

Latin -ellus

Latin novellus

Vulgar Latin *novella

Italian novellabor.

Spanish novela

Spanish telenovela

From tele- + novela.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /telenoˈbela/ [t̪e.le.noˈβ̞e.la]
• Rhymes: -ela
• Syllabification: te‧le‧no‧ve‧la

Noun

telenovela f (plural telenovelas)

1. soap opera/telenovela

   Synonym: culebrón

Further reading

• “telenovela”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025