# telco

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈtɛlˌkəʊ/ · frequency rank #47,957

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

## 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).

## Easily confused with
- **TLC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/telco-vs-tlc)
- **Teo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/telco-vs-teo)
- **tell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/telco-vs-tell)
- **tells** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/telco-vs-tells)
- **tempo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/telco-vs-tempo)
- **telly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/telco-vs-telly)
- **telecom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/telco-vs-telecom)
- **Tel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tel-vs-telco)
- **TEC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tec-vs-telco)
- **tech** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tech-vs-telco)
- **taco** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taco-vs-telco)
- **teach** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/teach-vs-telco)

## Common misspellings (7)
`etlco`, `teclo`, `telcco`, `tellco`, `teloc`, `tleco`, `ttelco`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/telco