means A message sent by telegraph, transmitted over wires as electrical signals and delivered as a printed or written note.

from Coined in the mid-19th century from Greek tÄēle-, "far off, distant," and -gram, "thing written" (from graphein, "to write") — literally a "distant writing." It was built to match telegraph ("distant writer"), and the new word drew a few purist complaints for being half-Greek, half-improper. The purists lost; the wires won.