The story
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰéh₂os
- Proto-Hellenic*pʰáwos
- Ancient Greekφᾰ́ος (phắos)
- Ancient Greekφῶς (phôs)
- Ancient Greekφωτο- (phōto-)
- Englishphoto-
- Proto-Indo-European*gerbʰ-
- Proto-Hellenic*grə́pʰō
- Ancient Greekγράφω (gráphō)
- Englishphotograph
- English todayphotographer
From photograph + -er, from Ancient Greek φωτός (phōtós), genitive singular of φῶς (phôs, “light”) (fōs) and γράφω (gráphō, “I write”). By surface analysis, photograph + er.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.