photograph English · revision 6502

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1839|origins=grc φῶς, grc γράφω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfəʊ.təˌɡɹɑːf/ ''(UK)''; /ˈfoʊ.təˌɡɹæf/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was coined in 1839 by the English scientist Sir John Herschel from [[photo-]] and [[-graph]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[grc|φῶς|tr=phôs|t=light]] (genitive phōtós) and [[grc|γράφω|tr=gráphō|t=to write, draw]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) French photographie is recorded from 1834.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ 1839, together with photography and photographic, in a paper Herschel read before the Royal Society on 14 March.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline notes that photograph won over rival names such as photogene and heliograph, and that sun-picture (1846) was an English alternative.^(Etymonline) The verb, to take a photograph, is also from 1839,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and intransitively, to take well or badly in photographs, from 1893.^(OED 1989) Figuratively, a vivid description, or to fix something in the mind, is from 1852–62.^(OED 1989) Photographic replaced earlier photogenic, which now means looking good in photographs.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1834 – French photographie.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1839 – photograph, coined by Herschel.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1852 – a mental picture.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1893 – to come out in photographs.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A picture made with a [[camera]], by recording light on a sensitive film or a digital sensor.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To take a photograph of.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To appear in a photograph in a certain way: ''she photographs well''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[photographable]]

+ * [[photo]]

+ * [[microphotograph]]

+ * [[radiophotograph]]

+ * [[telephotograph]]

+ * [[photographic]]

+ * [[photography]]

+ * [[photographer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[telegraph]]

+ * [[autograph]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}