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definitions

photostat

[foh-tuh-stat]
noun
  1. a camera for making facsimile copies of documents, drawings, etc., in the form of paper negatives on which the positions of lines, objects, etc., in the originals are maintained.
  2. a copy made with this camera.
verb (used with or without object), pho·to·stat·ed or pho·to·stat·ted, pho·to·stat·ing or pho·to·stat·ting.
  1. to copy with this camera.

Origin of photostat

formerly a trademark
Related formspho·to·stat·er, pho·to·stat·ter, nounpho·to·stat·ic, adjectivepho·to·stat·i·cal·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for photostat

picture, likeness, image, snapshot, print, portrait, photo, photograph, replication, photocopy, recreation, propagation, replica, facsimile, imitation, breeding, copy, reproduction, type, model

Examples from the Web for photostat

Historical Examples of photostat

  • She picked up the photostat and handed it along the table to him.

    Omnilingual

    H. Beam Piper

  • It was a photostat of what looked like the title page and contents of some sort of a periodical.

    Omnilingual

    H. Beam Piper

  • We will keep the original and we will be glad to give you a photostat for your records.

    Warren Commission (1 of 26): Hearings Vol. I (of 15)

    The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy

  • Photostat copies in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, accessible only by special permission.

    Lincoln

    Nathaniel Wright Stephenson

  • A copy of the history not being available, this is printed from a photostat copy furnished by the Dominion archives.

British Dictionary definitions for photostat

photostat

noun
  1. a machine or process used to make quick positive or negative photographic copies of written, printed, or graphic matter
  2. any copy made by such a machine
verb -stats, -statting, -stating, -statted or -stated
  1. to make a photostat copy (of)
Derived Formsphotostatic, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for photostat
n.

1909, a type of copying machine (trademark Commercial Camera Company, Providence, R.I.) whose name became a generic noun and verb (1914) for "photocopy;" from photo- + stat.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper