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

Ms Quinn said: "Daguerre developed a way of taking pictures using a polished silvered plate and a camera. This produced a single image printed directly onto a plate with astonishing clarity, named the daguerreotype."

From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2024

“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

Within months, daguerreotype cameras had spread throughout the world, recording images that we treasure — and, yes, repeat.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 13, 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

In the latter, that life appears as if daguerreotyped: the outlines are studiously correct, but all is depicted in sad, sombre colours; the golden tints and harmonising colours of the promised land are lacking.

From The Prose Writings of Heinrich Heine by Heine, Heinrich

It is a sight to be daguerreotyped upon the heart.

From Flora Lyndsay or, Passages in an Eventful Life by Moodie, Susanna

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 Glenwood, Ida

Flashed on the telegraph, daguerreotyped and made visible in the newspaper, every event of any importance, occurring in any part of the world, is communicated, almost at the same moment, to many millions of people.

From The Continental Monthly , Vol. 2 No. 5, November 1862 Devoted to Literature and National Policy by Various

Fortunately her face was accurately daguerreotyped in his memory, so that he felt certain of recognizing her, under whatever circumstances they might meet.

From Timothy Crump's Ward A Story of American Life by Alger, Horatio

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

From Great Inventions and Discoveries by Piercy, Willis Duff

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 Bartlett, David W.

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 Warner, Susan

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 Morford, Henry

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