Etymologically
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photograph

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 10:08. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈfəʊ.təˌɡɹɑːf/ (UK); /ˈfoʊ.təˌɡɹæf/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It was coined in 1839 by the English scientist Sir John Herschel from photo- and -graph,[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek φῶς (phôs, “light”) (genitive phōtós) and Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō, “to write, draw”).[4][5] French photographie is recorded from 1834.[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

1839, together with photography and photographic, in a paper Herschel read before the Royal Society on 14 March.[2][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that photograph won over rival names such as photogene and heliograph, and that sun-picture (1846) was an English alternative.[3] The verb, to take a photograph, is also from 1839,[2][6] and intransitively, to take well or badly in photographs, from 1893.[6] Figuratively, a vivid description, or to fix something in the mind, is from 1852–62.[6] Photographic replaced earlier photogenic, which now means looking good in photographs.[4]

Timeline

  • 1834 – French photographie.[5]
  • 1839 – photograph, coined by Herschel.[2][6]
  • 1852 – a mental picture.[6]
  • 1893 – to come out in photographs.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A picture made with a camera, by recording light on a sensitive film or a digital sensor.

Verb

  1. To take a photograph of.
  2. To appear in a photograph in a certain way: she photographs well.

Word family

  • telegraph
  • autograph

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press