daguerreotype

American  

[duh-gair-uh-tahyp, -ee-uh-tahyp] / dəˈgɛər əˌtaɪp, -i əˌtaɪp /

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.

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verb (used with object)

daguerreotyped, daguerreotyping

1. to photograph by this process.

daguerreotype British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of daguerreotype

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

Explanation

An old-fashioned black-and-white photograph with a shiny, almost mirror-like surface is a daguerreotype. The daguerreotype was named for its inventor, Louis Daguerre, known as one of the fathers of photography. Daguerre's 1837 process involved using a sheet of copper that was coated with a thin layer of silver and needed just 20 minutes of exposure; it replaced an earlier method that required eight hours to produce an image. Less expensive types of photography made the daguerreotype obsolete within 20 years, and today they're extremely rare.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

daguerreotype daguerreotyped daguerreotyping

Henrich, an early adopter of daguerreotype cameras, shoots photographs of women posing with skulls like he’s paving the way for Del Toro’s whole filmography.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2025

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

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 22, 2024

The Franklin explorers brought their daguerreotype camera with them.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2023

“There is a slumped weariness in his expression,” Semtner said of the last photograph taken of Poe, a sixth-plate tintype based on a daguerreotype.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 11, 2022

But as time passed and she finally took the daguerreotype delicately in her hands, I could see my aunt’s expression transform.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

Her quick anger was gone, and the brightness of the joyous anticipations of the something that was to bring so much to one she so dearly loved daguerreotyped itself on her expressive features.

From Lily Pearl and The Mistress of Rosedale by Ida Glenwood

The exact scenes are now fully daguerreotyped on my brain and heart both, as well as on my manuscript journal.

From Marital Power Exemplified in Mrs. Packard's Trial, and Self-Defence from the Charge of Insanity by Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard

It is curious how municipal, economical, and social life are thus simultaneously daguerreotyped and indicate their mutual and intricate association in the French capital.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 05, No. 29, March, 1860 by Various

What did he care for that, since he had already seen it, and it was daguerreotyped upon his heated imagination, so that he would know her whenever he should meet her afterwards in the street.

From Hot corn: Life Scenes in New York Illustrated by Solon Robinson

His image, daguerreotyped on her heart, no light breath could dim.

From The Good Time Coming by T. S. (Timothy Shay) Arthur

With returning consciousness came the quickened perception which sometimes follows a slight concussion of the brain, daguerreotyping upon my mind each individual of these fiery ranks, in vivid, even painful clearness.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 57, July, 1862 by Various

In some intense moods of mind, it seems as if every sunbeam had daguerreotyping power, and memory the preparedness to receive and retain.

From Daisy in the Field by Susan Warner

We are only roughly daguerreotyping the man as he appeared, preparatory to one terrible incident which made him an important character in this narration.

From The Coward A Novel of Society and the Field in 1863 by Henry Morford

Indeed, his faculty for daguerreotyping such things upon his mind, was wonderful.

From Paris: With Pen and Pencil Its People and Literature, Its Life and Business by David W. Bartlett

"Jessie Brown" and "The Poor of New York," and other plays directly daguerreotyping ordinary incidents, at any rate show that the drama is an art that responds instantly to the pulses of the time.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 05, No. 32, June, 1860 by Various