1. a machine that scans a printed page and sends a copy of its image through a tele
1.nounB1
Definition
a machine that scans a printed page and sends a copy of its image through a telephone line to another machine that prints it; the term also refers to the entire system of sending documents this way
Example
The office telefax broke, so Lakshmi drove to the copy shop to send the contract.
At the front desk, the telefax rang with a new message from the head office.
telefax + ring — incoming message pattern
Every invoice was sent through the telefax because the supplier did not use email.
passive: be sent + through the telefax
Renata installed a telefax in the office and showed the staff how to use it.
Before signing, Mira checked the figures on the telefax copy from the Tokyo office.
All three terms describe the same device that scans a printed page and transmits its image over a phone line. 'Facsimile machine' is the original full form, still used in technical manuals and formal correspondence, but rarely in conversation. 'Fax machine' (or simply 'fax') is the everyday term — it appears in office talk, business emails, and product descriptions, and is understood at any level of formality. 'Telefax' is a mid-20th-century coinage that combines 'tele-' with 'fax'; it appears in older business documents and technical references but sounds dated in modern speech. A natural sentence would be 'Please send the contract by fax,' not by telefax or facsimile.
Formed in English in the mid-20th century (first known use 1941) by combining the prefix tele- (from Greek tēle, 'far off') with fax, a shortening of facsimile (from Latin fac simile, 'make similar'). So the word literally means 'distant copy' — a machine that creates a copy of a document at a faraway location.