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

The only time she dissuaded him was when he was about to destroy the daguerreotype of Remedios that was kept in the parlor lighted by an eternal lamp.

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

Madame Charles Reybaud, authoress of The Cadet de Calobriéres, has just published another story, Faustine, wherein provincial life in France is daguerreotyped.

From The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 1, August, 1851 by Various

Victor Hugo has, in his wonderful book, "Les Miserables," daguerreotyped the thoughts and the feelings of a prisoner.

From History of Morgan's Cavalry by Duke, Basil Wilson

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

That little domestic scene was so daguerreotyped upon his memory that he should never forget one detail of cast or incident—never!

From Shoulder-Straps A Novel of New York and the Army, 1862 by Morford, Henry

For the proper representation of these there was no room in this plate; so, in Plate 25, above, on each side of the daguerreotyped towers of Fribourg, I have given, Fig.

From Modern Painters, Volume IV (of V) by Ruskin, John

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

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

From Great Inventions and Discoveries by Piercy, Willis Duff

"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

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