Betamax

Meanings

1. A home videocassette recording format developed by Sony in 1975, now known for having lost the format war to VHS.

1. To make (something) obsolete.

1. a Betamax (videocassette tape)
2. coagulated chicken blood that is boiled, cut in to cubes, skewered and grilled to be sold as a street food

Etymology

According to Sony, the name had a double meaning: beta is the Japanese word used to describe the way in which signals are recorded on the tape; and the shape of the Greek letter beta β resembles the course of the tape through the transport. The suffix -max, from maximum, was added to suggest greatness.