home video

noun

plural home videos

1

: a homemade video (see video entry 1 sense 1) that is not usually intended for commercial release or distribution

We showed our friends home videos of our vacation in the Caribbean.

People are consuming millions of hours of shaky, selfie-quality home video on their phones every day.

—Karen Bussone

… make a home video, using a cell phone or camera, of yourself performing your selection.

—The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, North Carolina)

2

: prerecorded video (see video entry 1 sense 1a) marketed for home viewing

The popular TV series … returns to home video with the DVD and Blu-ray releases of … Season Three.

—Mike Spring

It's not clear when other [streaming] platforms will add season four, but it usually takes several months for new seasons to receive a home video release …

—Business Insider US

Examples of home video in a Sentence

the latest releases in home video

We watched a home video of their wedding.

Recent Examples on the Web

Bob Stein co-founded the Criterion Collection in 1984 with the modest goal of releasing contemporary and classic films on home video. —Paula Mejía, The Atlantic, 20 Mar. 2025

The fifth generation of home video game consoles saw a new competitor step up to the plate to disrupt the everlasting war between Sega and Nintendo: Sony's PlayStation. —David Faris, Newsweek, 29 Dec. 2024

The lawsuit was first filed in 2020, and Woodall was seeking $100 million in damages, but a court ruling last November narrowed the scope to only involve Disney's home video distribution, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, because the filing would have come too late. —Lauren Huff, EW.com, 11 Mar. 2025

However, a claim survived against Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Disney’s home video subsidiary, because the DVD release was in 2017. —Gene Maddaus, Variety, 10 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined at sense 2