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

The papal video made the social media rounds when Chris Gennett, a musician and Jesse's brother, posted the 60-second home video on TikTok. —CBS News, 10 Apr. 2026

Or has home video improved to the point that the theater experience seems less necessary? —Mick Lasalle, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 Apr. 2026

Back in the 1960s, there wasn't a home video market, and videotape was expensive, so it was erased for reuse. —Chris McMullen, Space.com, 3 Apr. 2026

Viz Media’s rights cover TV, home video, electronic sell-through and video-on-demand across North America, Latin America and Australia/New Zealand. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 3 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined at sense 2