multimediaadj.n.
/ˌmʌltɪˈmiːdɪə/, U.S. /ˌməltiˈmidiə/; see also multi- comb. form. A. adj. (attributive).
1. Of a creative work, an artist, etc.: that uses or combines a variety of artistic or communicative media.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > [adjective] > which uses more than one medium
multimedia1950
society > communication > information > action of informing > [adjective] > using more than one medium
multimedia1950
1950 N.Y. Times 14 May f8/5 (advt.) Primary emphasis will be on planning and execution of multi-media advertising and sales promotions to Latin America markets.
1962 Listener 5 Apr. 603/3 Both Futurists and Dadaists had a keen interest in multi-media art, in breaking down the technical and formal self-sufficiency of the work of art.
1987 E. E. Smith Miss Melville Returns (1988) i. 8 Rafael Hoffmann was a multimedia artist. His oeuvre combined painting, sculpture, and various crafts.
2007 A. M. Gillmor Eagle Minds p. xviii Foci (1969), A multimedia work calling for slide projectors, enhanced lighting, and taped sounds emanating from six discrete channels located around the performance space.
2. With reference to computers or the internet: that uses or combines various forms of digital content such as text, audio, video, and animation; of or relating to multimedia (sense B. 2). Formerly also: that supports different digital data formats.
ΚΠ
1976 Data Managem. Oct. 25/3 There are numerous examples of companies that have capitalized on the advantages of multimedia dispersed processing systems.
1982 Human-Nets Digest V5 #110 in fa.human-nets (Usenet newsgroup) 23 Dec. There'll suddenly be a market to convert files from private obscure cretinous formats..into the standard form (probably ANSI-ASCII making full use of alternate-characterset-escape capabilities, or NBS/Postel structured multimedia text/data).
1986 InfoWorld 10 Mar. 8/4 Microsoft showed a prototype multimedia encyclopedia on CD-ROM that combined text, still images, animation, and stereo sound.
1991 New Scientist 21 Sept. 35/2 The multimedia industry is still looking for what it calls a ‘Killer App’, a feature or application that will persuade us that we can't live without a unit.
1995 Edge Nov. 41/1 Each unit is compatible with all PC multimedia sound cards.
2005 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 9 July 15/2 Australia's big three mobile phone companies..will all launch third-generation networks before the end of the year, offering new multimedia content, video calling,..and location-based services.
B. n.
1. Various types of artistic or communicative media; esp. the use or combination of these. Also occasionally as a count noun: a piece of art, performance, etc., that uses or combines such media.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > [noun] > from more than one medium
multimedia1962
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > work of art > [noun] > types of
chimney-piecea1616
master1694
study1722
studio1785
old master1824
homage1901
art mobilier1921
multimedia1962
multiple1968
installation1969
corporate art1971
1962 Educ. Screen & Audiovisual Guide May 262 (heading) The multimedia: their value in instruction.
1969 J. Morrison Lords & New Creatures (1971) i. 75 Multimedias are invariably sad comedies.
1970 L. Bangs in G. Marcus Psychotic Reactions (1987) 42 Both groups on both coasts..claimed to be the avatars of the psychedelic multimedia trend.
1971 Black Scholar Jan. 20/2 As originator of the practice of reading poetry to jazz, he not only stitched backwards and forward in his lineage and idiom, but wrought a new force in the now obscenely exaggerated concept of multi-media.
1989 Internat. Business Week 6 Mar. 44/3 And in the age of MTV, what could be more natural than ‘multimedia’, the combination of computers, stereo sound, graphics, and video?
2006 P. Treleaven & S. Emmott in E. H. L. Aarts & J. L. Encarnação True Visions xvi. 311 Products will increasingly embrace ‘multimedia’ in its broadest sense, integrating virtual and physical media and materials.
2. With reference to computers or the internet: content that uses or combines various forms of digital content such as text, audio, video, and animation.
ΚΠ
1981 Creative Computing Dec. 11/3 The Conference..will offer more than a dozen experts on such topics as..Computer Graphic Technical Illustration, and Computer Slices and Multi-media.
1990 Independent 9 Apr. 18/3 Two aspects of the Active Book transcend the most useful Filofax: hyperlink and multimedia.
2002 Wall St. Jrnl. 11 Feb. b10 (advt.) With TV-quality movies and webstreams, CD-quality music, and interactive games, we are setting new standards for online multimedia.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 13 Aug. b7/5 Its backers say it is the best technology for streaming multimedia.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.n.1950