collodion

American  

[kuh-loh-dee-uhn] / kəˈloʊ di ən /

noun

1. a yellowish, viscous, highly flammable solution of pyroxylin in ether and alcohol: used in the manufacture of photographic film, in engraving and lithography, and in medicine chiefly for cementing dressings and sealing wounds.

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collodion British  

/ kəˈləʊdɪən, kəˈləʊdɪəm /

noun

1. a colourless or yellow syrupy liquid that consists of a solution of pyroxylin in ether and alcohol: used in medicine and in the manufacture of photographic plates, lacquers, etc

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Etymology

Origin of collodion

1850–55; alteration of New Latin collodium < Greek kollṓd ( ēs ) glutinous ( kóll ( a ) glue + -ōdēs -ode ¹ ) + -ium -ium

Example Sentences

The aspect ratio changes into a square format and the lensing feels reminiscent of 19th century wet plate collodion photography.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2022

In “My DNA,” he used collodion tintype, a laborious method of photography that was in vogue during the eighteen-fifties.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 10, 2018

Using collodion negatives, a 19th-century medium, and antique lenses, she coaxed chance and accidents into her prints, reinforcing the sense of history and mimicking the random effects of war.

From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2018

The wet collodion process, which was invented in 1851, gave photographers the ability to make direct contact prints from a glass negative.

From Time • Jan. 19, 2017

Later on bromides were added to the collodion, an iron developer employed, and cyanide of potassium as a fixing agent; but the principle remained the same from first to last.

From The Evolution of Photography With a Chronological Record of Discoveries, Inventions, etc., Contributions to Photographic Literature, and Personal Reminescences Extending over Forty Years by Werge, John