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

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Etymology

Origin of daguerreotype

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

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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

The daguerreotype was invented in France in 1839.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026

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

He notes that Capt Crozier was the only crew member from HMS Terror to be photographed and that this daguerreotype is the only known original photograph of him in existence.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2023

In the shadow of De St-Croix, attempting to repeat his time-ravaged daguerreotype, I could just make out these echoes of history, muddled by light and shadow, lingering right beneath the surface.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2023

It was a daguerreotype of a man and a woman.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

That camp is daguerreotyped on my memory; the old tree, the white tent, with Shaw sleeping in the shadow of it, and Reynal's miserable lodge close by the bank of the stream.

From The Oregon Trail: sketches of prairie and Rocky-Mountain life by Francis Parkman

Members of both Houses will be, of course, daguerreotyped for the use of the morning papers; and photographic likenesses of the leaders of ton be supplied gratis to the leaders of the press.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 55, No. 339, January, 1844 by Various

The portraits of half a dozen children were daguerreotyped on my soul as I looked at one.

From The Puddleford Papers, Or Humors of the West by H. H. Riley

One would think the old lady must have sat at least a year, till he had daguerreotyped every wrinkle and twinkle.

From Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands, Volume 2 by Harriet Beecher Stowe

She appeared completely versed in the affairs of the whole family, as though her mind were a hidden gallery in which were clearly daguerreotyped, and faithfully retained, all impressions of the external world.

From Agatha's Husband A Novel by Walter Crane

"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

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

The discovery of the daguerreotyping process was announced in January, 1839.

From Great Inventions and Discoveries by Willis Duff Piercy

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

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

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