laser

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈleɪz.ə(ɹ)/ (UK); /ˈleɪzɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is an acronym of “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”,^[2][3][4] on the pattern of maser (1955).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A device that emits an intense, narrow, coherent beam of light: 1960 in the OED, Barnhart and Etymonline;^[5][2][3] MWU dates it to 1957.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Compounds such as laser beam and laser-guided are from 1963,^[5] and the back-formed verb lase by 1962.^[2][3] A laser gun first meant the device and then, in science fiction, a ray gun (1961).^[5] The laser disc is from 1980.^[3]

Timeline

• 1957 – first use (MWU).^[4]
• 1960 – the device.^[5][2]
• 1962 – lase.^[2]
• 1963 – laser beam.^[5]
• 1980 – laser disc.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A device that produces an intense, narrow beam of light of a single wavelength, by stimulating atoms to emit radiation.

Verb

1. To treat or cut with a laser.

Word family

• lase
• maser
• laser beam
• laser disk
• laser printer
• excimer laser
• laser disc

Related words

• radar
• sonar

Usage notes

An older, unrelated laser was a gum resin from a North African plant, silphium, used medicinally by the Romans; it is from Latin laser and recorded in English from about 1420.^[5][3][6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press