Etymology

photobeam

P3H4O1T1O1B3E1A1M3

Today it means: A beam of light whose interruption triggers a warning or a mechanism (such as a door). Full definition →

English beam ← Middle English bem ← Old English bēam
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰéh₂os
  3. Proto-Hellenic*pʰáwos
  4. Ancient Greekφᾰ́ος (phắos)
  5. Ancient Greekφῶς (phôs)
  6. Ancient Greekφωτο- (phōto-)
  7. Englishphoto-
  8. Proto-Germanic*bagmaz?
  9. Proto-West Germanic*baum
  10. Old Englishbēam
  11. Middle Englishbem
  12. Englishbeam
  13. English todayphotobeam

From photo- + beam.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.