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

Stay for the credits too, to catch home videos of the actual family through the years — from the birth of Travis and Sosie, to the family learning dances together during the pandemic. —Emily Longeretta, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026

The film’s opening sequence, a grainy home video of Wilson as a very vocal baby, sets the tone. —Ian Dille, Outside, 13 Mar. 2026

In the past, producers like myself could build careers through profit participation and successive windows of distribution — theatrical, home video, cable, international sales, and television licensing. —Ted Hope, IndieWire, 11 Mar. 2026

Through home videos and voicemails, a young Filipino-American soccer player relives her team’s historic win — culminating in a return to her roots and a journey that is both personal and profound. —Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined at sense 2