daguerreotype

noun

da·​guerre·​o·​type də-ˈger-ō-ˌtīp 

-ˈger-ə-;

-ˈge-rō-,

-rə-,

 also  də-ˈger-ē-ō-ˌtīp,

-ˈger-ē-

: an early photograph produced on a silver or a silver-covered copper plate

also : the process of producing such photographs

daguerreotype transitive verb

daguerreotypist

də-ˈger-ō-ˌtī-pist 

-ˈger-ə-;

-ˈge-rō-

-rə-

 also  də-ˈger-ē-ō-ˌtī-

-ˈger-ē-

noun

daguerreotypy

də-ˈger-ō-ˌtī-pē 

-ˈger-ə-;

-ˈge-rō-

-rə-

 also  də-ˈger-ē-ō-ˌtī-

-ˈger-ē-

noun

Examples of daguerreotype in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Creating a daguerreotype was a delicate, sometimes painstaking process that involved several chemical treatments and variable exposure times. —Lillian Ali, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 June 2025

The settlement ends a 15-year battle between Lanier and the university to release the 19th-century daguerreotypes, a precursor to modern-day photographs. —Arkansas Online, 30 May 2025

Harvard University is set to donate fifteen daguerreotypes of enslaved people to the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, settling a lawsuit brought by a descendant of two of the people portrayed in the photos. —News Desk, Artforum, 29 May 2025

The show’s charting of the technical and scientific refinements that led from unique daguerreotypes to reproducible cartes de visite and stereographs help ground what could have been a dry and academic exhibition in a sense of discovery. —Vince Aletti, New Yorker, 24 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

French daguerréotype, from L. J. M. Daguerre + French -o- + type

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for daguerreotype

• allotype
• antitype
• archetype
• biotype
• collotype
• genotype
• haplotype
• holotype
• hypotype
• isotype
• lectotype
• linotype

Kids Definition

daguerreotype

noun

da·​guerre·​o·​type də-ˈger-(ē-)ō-ˌtīp 

: an early photograph produced on a metal plate

Etymology

named for L. J. M. Daguerre 1789–1851 French painter and inventor