English
photography
Photography is borrowed from French photographie, ultimately from Greek φῶς ‘light’ + γράφω ‘to write, draw’.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentphotographie
- Englishtodayphotography
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentphotographie
- Englishtodayphotography
Equivalent to photo- + -graphy
Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to shine, glow light’
Proto-Indo-European *bʰéh₂os
Proto-Hellenic *pʰáwos
Ancient Greek φᾰ́ος ‘light’
Ancient Greek φῶς ‘light’
English photo-
The story
By surface analysis, photo- + -graphy, together meaning "drawing with light" or "representation by means of lines", "drawing".
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to carve’
grammar, crawl, crab, carve, crawfish, 82 more
through Proto-Hellenic *grə́pʰō ‘to scratch, cut or carve into’
cinema, graphic, graphite, graphene, epigram, 75 more
through Ancient Greek γρᾰ́φω ‘to scratch, cut into’
graffiti, graft, grimoire, demography, epigraph, ultrasonography, sonography, 41 more
Today it means
noun The art and technology of producing images on photosensitive surfaces, and its digital counterpart.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French photographie / photography