photograph
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to practice photography.
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to be photographed or be suitable for being photographed in some specified way.
The children photograph well.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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photographableadjective
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well-photographedadjective
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unphotographedadjective
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rephotographverb (used with object)
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unphotographableadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has photographedperfect 3rd person singular
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have photographedperfect
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have been photographingperfect progressive
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is photographingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am photographingprogressive 1st person singular
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are photographingprogressive
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has been photographingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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photographingparticiple
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photographssingular 3rd person
Past
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had photographedperfect
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was photographingprogressive singular
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had been photographingperfect progressive
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photographedsimple
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photographedparticiple
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were photographingprogressive plural
Future
Etymology
Origin of photograph
Explanation
When you take a picture with a camera, the result is a photograph, a picture of your subject created by a special medium’s exposure to light. The first photographs were created on metal plates coated with a special chemical. Although photography as we know it did not emerge until the 19th century, the word photograph evolved from the ancient Greek words phot-, "light," and graph-, "writing," which were combined to create the word for taking pictures — "light writing." Nowadays we take our photographs with electronic cameras, recording, transferring, and storing the pictures digitally. Times change, and while many people still enjoy using film cameras, they are becoming increasingly rare, and certain types of films are no longer produced.
Vocabulary lists containing photograph
Write On!: Graph and Gram
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Introduction to Informational Text
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Katie Miller, Stephen Miller’s wife, identified Paulina Mangubat, the DNC’s deputy chief mobilization officer, as the staffer behind the post and publicly shared her photograph.
From Salon • May 30, 2026
US General Francis Donovan met with Cuban General Roberto Legra Sotolongo "for a brief exchange on operational security matters," US Southern Command said in a statement issued along with a photograph of the meeting.
From Barron's • May 30, 2026
It was only when Joanna sent her a photograph that she identified the other man as Obaidly.
From BBC • May 28, 2026
Across news departments, they will engage audiences, analyze data, edit, design, photograph, report and record unforgettable voices and scenes that bring every day events to colorful life.
From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2026
“Your ma says that you haven’t had a photograph taken yet.”
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
