- photo (n.)
- 1860, shortening of photograph. The verb is first recorded 1865, from the noun. Photo finish is attested from 1936. Photo opportunity first recorded 1974.
- photo-
- word-forming element meaning "light" or "photographic" or "photoelectric," from Greek photo-, comb. form of phos (genitive photos) "light," from PIE root *bha- (1) "to shine" (see phantasm).
- photogenic (adj.)
- 1839, "produced or caused by light," from photo- "light" + -genic "produced by" (see genus). Originally in photogenic drawing, the early term for "photography;" meaning "photographing well" is first attested 1928, from photo- as short for "photograph."
- photosynthesis (n.)
- 1898, loan-translation of German Photosynthese, from photo- "light" (see photo-) + synthese "synthesis" (see synthesis). Another early word for it was photosyntax.
[T]he body of the work has been rendered into English with fidelity, the only change of moment being the substitution of the word "photosynthesis" for that of "assimilation." This change follows from a suggestion by Dr. Barnes, made a year ago before the American Association at Madison, who clearly pointed out the need of a distinctive term for the synthetical process in plants, brought about by protoplasm in the presence of chlorophyll and light. He proposed the word "photosyntax," which met with favor. In the discussion Professor MacMillan suggested the word "photosynthesis," as etymologically more satisfactory and accurate, a claim which Dr. Barnes showed could not be maintained. The suggestion of Dr. Barnes not only received tacit acceptance by the botanists of the association, but was practically approved by the Madison Congress in the course of a discussion upon this point. ["The Botanical Gazette," vol. XIX, 1894]
- photostat (n.)
- 1909, a type of copying machine (trademark Commercial Camera Company, Providence, R.I.) whose name became a generic noun and verb (1914) for "photocopy;" from photo- + stat.
- photomontage (n.)
- 1931, from photo + montage.
- photoinduction (n.)
- 1947, from photo- + induction.
- photophobia (n.)
- 1799, from photo- + -phobia. Related: Photophobic.
- photojournalism (n.)
- 1944, from photo- + journalism. Related: Photojournalist.
- phototropism (n.)
- 1899, from German phototropie (1892), from photo- + tropism.
- photosphere (n.)
- 1660s, "orb of light," from photo- + -sphere. Astronomical sense is from 1848.
- photography (n.)
- 1839, from photo- + -graphy. See photograph.
- photon (n.)
- "unit of electromagnetic radiation," 1926 in modern sense, from photo- "light" + -on "unit."
- photoperiodism (n.)
- 1920, from photoperiod (1920, from photo- + period) + -ism.
- photovoltaic (adj.)
- 1923, from photo- + voltaic. Related: Photovoltaics (see -ics).
- photocopy (v.)
- 1924 in the sense of "make a photographic reproduction," from photo- "photographic" + copy (v.). The usual modern meaning arose 1942 with the advent of xerography. The noun is recorded from 1934. Related: Photocopied; photocopying.
- photogravure (n.)
- "process of engraving by photography," 1869, from photo- + gravure, from grave (v.) + -ure.
- photograph (n.)
- 1839, "picture obtained by photography," coined by Sir John Herschel from photo- + -graph "instrument for recording; something written." It won out over other suggestions, such as photogene and heliograph. Neo-Anglo-Saxonists prefer sunprint; and sun-picture (1846) was an early Englishing of the word. The verb, as well as photography, are first found in a paper read before the Royal Society on March 14, 1839. Related: Photographed; photographing.
- telephoto (adj.)
- also tele-photo, 1898, shortened form of telephotographic (1892), in reference to lenses introduced at that time to increase the magnification of photographs taken by a camera, from tele- + photographic.
- photoshop (v.)
- "to edit an image using a computer program," 1992, originally, and properly still, only in reference to Photoshop, a bitmap graphics editor trademarked and published by Adobe, released in 1990. Like Taser and Dumpster, it has a tendency to become generic, but if you use it that way in print their lawyers will still send you The Letter. Related: Photoshopped; photoshopping.
- photographer (n.)
- 1843, agent noun from photograph (v.). (Photographist also is attested from 1843).
- photographic (adj.)
- 1839, from photograph + -ic. Photographic memory is from 1940. Related: Photographical; photographically.
- photosynthesize (v.)
- 1910, from photosynthesis + -ize. Related: Photosynthesized; photosynthesizing.
- photocopier (n.)
- 1934, agent noun from photocopy (v.).
- rotogravure (n.)
- 1913, from German Rotogravur (originally, in full, Deutsche Tiefdrück Gesellschaft), said to blend two corporate names, Rotophot and Deutsche Photogravur A.G. Etymologically, the roots are Latin rota "wheel, roller" (see rotary) and French gravure "engraving" (see gravure). The process was used for printing photo sections of newspapers and magazines, so that the word came to be used for these.
- enjoy (v.)
- late 14c., "rejoice, be glad" (intransitive), from stem of Old French enjoir "to give joy, rejoice, take delight in," from en- "make" (see en- (1)) + joir "enjoy," from Latin gaudere "rejoice" (see joy); Sense of "have the use or benefit of" first recorded early 15c. (replacing Old English brucan, for which see brook (v.)).
Transitive meaning "take pleasure in" is mid-15c. In modern use it has a tendency to lose its connection with pleasure: newspaper photo captions say someone enjoys an ice cream cone, etc., when all she is doing is eating it, and Wright's "English Dialect Dictionary" (1900) reports widespread use in north and west England of the phrase to enjoy bad health for one who has ailments. Meaning "have sexual relations with" (a woman) is from 1590s. Related: Enjoyed; enjoys; enjoying. To enjoy oneself "feel pleasure or satisfaction in one's mind" attested by 1708.
