Etymology

femtophotography

Today it means: A method of photography using sub-picosecond pulses of light (usually around 10⁻¹³ seconds, or 100 femtoseconds, long) to illuminate the subject of the photograph, allowing the propagation of the light pulse to be viewed directly. Full definition →

English photography ← French photographie ← Ancient Greek γρᾰ́φω (grắphō)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pénkʷe
  2. Proto-Germanic*fimf
  3. Proto-Indo-European*déḱm̥
  4. Proto-Germanic*tehun
  5. Proto-Germanic*fimftehun
  6. Old Norsefimmtán
  7. Danishfemten
  8. Englishfemto-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*bʰéh₂os
  11. Proto-Hellenic*pʰáwos
  12. Ancient Greekφᾰ́ος (phắos)
  13. Ancient Greekφῶς (phôs)
  14. Ancient Greekφωτο- (phōto-)
  15. Proto-Indo-European*gerbʰ-
  16. Proto-Hellenic*grə́pʰō
  17. Ancient Greekγρᾰ́φω (grắphō)
  18. Frenchphotographie
  19. Englishphotography
  20. English todayfemtophotography

From femto- + photography, from the ~100-femtosecond-long pulses of light used.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.