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
• daguerreotypic adjective
• daguerreotypist noun
• daguerreotypy noun

Etymology

Origin of daguerreotype

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

Example Sentences

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 • Apr. 5, 2024

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 • Feb. 20, 2024

“A descendant of someone whose likeness is reproduced in a daguerreotype would not therefore inherit any property right to that daguerreotype,” the high court wrote in its ruling.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 23, 2022

“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

Sometimes she would go into the workshop and help Arcadio sensitize the daguerreotype plates with an efficiency and a tenderness that ended up by confusing him.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez