xerography

American  

[zi-rog-ruh-fee] / zɪˈrɒg rə fi /

noun

1. an electrostatic printing process for copying text or graphics whereby areas on a sheet of paper corresponding to the image areas of the original are sensitized with a charge of static electricity so that, when powdered with a toner carrying an opposite charge, only the charged areas retain the toner, which is then fused to the paper to make it permanent.

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xerography British  

/ zɪˈrɒɡrəfɪ, ˌzɪərəˈɡræfɪk /

noun

1. a photocopying process in which an electrostatic image is formed on a selenium plate or cylinder. The plate or cylinder is dusted with a resinous powder, which adheres to the charged regions, and the image is then transferred to a sheet of paper on which it is fixed by heating

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Other Word Forms

• xerographer noun
• xerographic adjective
• xerographically adverb

Etymology

Origin of xerography

First recorded in 1945–50; xero- + -graphy

Example Sentences

The other steps for charging the drum and transferring the image to paper are the same as in xerography.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

In the first stage of the xerography process, the conducting aluminum drum is grounded so that a negative charge is induced under the thin layer of uniformly positively charged selenium.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

Chester Carlson, 62, inventor of xerography, the dry-copying process that changed the routine in countless offices; of a heart attack; in Manhattan.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then he listened to Wilson's spiel about xerography.

From Time Magazine Archive

Nobody, not even the biotech industry, expected Washington to give the green light to human xerography.

From Time Magazine Archive