daguerreotype

[duh-gair-uh-tahyp, -ee-uh-tahyp]

noun

1. an obsolete photographic process, invented in 1839, in which a picture made on a silver surface sensitized with iodine was developed by exposure to mercury vapor.

2. a picture made by this process.

verb (used with object)

daguerreotyped, daguerreotyping 

1. to photograph by this process.

daguerreotype

/ dəˈɡɛrəʊˌtaɪp /

noun

1. one of the earliest photographic processes, in which the image was produced on iodine-sensitized silver and developed in mercury vapour

2. a photograph formed by this process

Other Word Forms

• daguerreotyper noun
• daguerreotypist noun
• daguerreotypic adjective
• daguerreotypy noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of daguerreotype¹

1830–40; named after L. J. M. Daguerre; -o-, -type

Example Sentences

The images are daguerreotypes, a very early form of modern-day photographs and were taken 15 years before the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution abolished slavery.

From BBC

I was Grace Kelly and that nameless bride in the antique store daguerreotype and every woman who has ever been married wearing anything at all.

From Los Angeles Times

She said one image in the collection, of a lively dog who clearly did not wish to stay still for any length of time, was instead created using a method known as "daguerreotype".

From BBC

Later, Campbell took Isaac to a shop to have a daguerreotype—a kind of early photograph—made in 1847.

From Literature

It was a daguerreotype, an image imprinted on a sheet of silver-plated copper coated in light-sensitive chemicals.

From Seattle Times