photocopier

P3H4O1T1O1C3O1P3I1E1R1

noun

A machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates.

“Near-synonyms: (all broadly synonymous) xerox machine, xerographer, xerox, photostat, laser copier”

Similar
photoduplicatorxerox machinexerographerxeroxphotostatlaser copier
OriginEnglish photocopy ← Middle English copy ← Ancient Greek φωτο- (phōto-) →
Less commonScrabble 20
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Meanings

nounphotocopier (plural photocopiers)

plural photocopiers

  1. A machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates.

    Near-synonyms: (all broadly synonymous) xerox machine, xerographer, xerox, photostat, laser copier

    1 more example

    Now the chintzy nameplate is all that distinguishes his work space from those of the photocopier repairperson, diet food company, and kitchen designer down the hall.

    1998 December 18, Peter Margasak, “Punk Planet's New Atmosphere”, in Chicago Reader

    Synonyms: photoduplicator, xerox machine, xerographer, xerox, photostat, laser copier

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates.

Similar
photoduplicatorxerox machinexerographerxeroxphotostatlaser copier
Also see
photostatxerox

Origin

  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. Middle Englishcopy
  9. Englishcopy
  10. Englishphotocopy
  11. Englishphotocopier

From photocopy + -er.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic نَاسِخَة, نَاسِخَة ضَوْئِيَّة
  • نَاسِخَة (nāsiḵa)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • نَاسِخَة ضَوْئِيَّة (nāsiḵa ḍawʔiyya)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Basque fotokopiagailu
  • fotokopiagailumachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Bengali আলোক চিত্রানুলিপিকারক, আলোক চিত্রানুলিপি যন্ত্র
  • আলোক চিত্রানুলিপিকারক (alōk citranulipikarok)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • আলোক চিত্রানুলিপি যন্ত্র (alōk citranulipi jontro)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Bulgarian копи́рна маши́на, ксе́рокс
  • копи́рна маши́на (kopírna mašína)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • ксе́рокс (kséroks)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Catalan fotocopiadora
  • fotocopiadoramachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Chinese Cantonese 影印機 /影印机
  • 影印機 /影印机 (jing² jan³ gei¹)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Chinese Mandarin 複印機 /复印机, 影印機 /影印机
  • 複印機 /复印机 (fùyìnjī)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • 影印機 /影印机 (yǐngyìnjī)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Czech kopírka
  • kopírkamachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Danish kopimaskine, fotokopimaskine
  • kopimaskinemachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • fotokopimaskinemachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Dutch kopieermachine
  • kopieermachinemachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Esperanto kopiilo
  • kopiilomachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Estonian koopiamasin
  • koopiamasinmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Finnish kopiokone, valokopiokone
  • kopiokonemachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • valokopiokonemachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
French photocopieur, photocopieuse
  • photocopieurmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • photocopieusemachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
German Fotokopierer, Fotokopiergerät
  • Fotokopierermachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • Fotokopiergerätmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • Kopiergerätmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Greek φωτοτυπικό
  • φωτοτυπικό (fototypikó)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Hebrew מְכוֹנַת צִלּוּם, מכונת צילום
  • מְכוֹנַת צִלּוּםmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • מכונת צילום (mekhonát tsilúm)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Hungarian fénymásoló, fénymásológép
  • fénymásolómachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • fénymásológépmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Icelandic ljósritunarvél
  • ljósritunarvélmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Indonesian fotostat, mesin fotokopi
  • fotostatmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • mesin fotokopimachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • mesin salin sinarmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • penyalin cahayamachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Irish fótachóipeálaí, fótachóipire
  • fótachóipeálaímachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • fótachóipiremachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • gléas fótachóipeálamachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Italian fotocopiatrice
  • fotocopiatricemachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Japanese 複写機, コピー機
  • 複写機 (fukushaki)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • コピー機 (kopīki)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Korean 복사기
  • 복사기 (boksagi)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Latvian kopētājs
  • kopētājsmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Lithuanian kopijavimo aparatas
  • kopijavimo aparatasmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Malay mesin fotokopi, mesin fotostat
  • mesin fotokopimachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • mesin fotostatmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Māori mīhini whakaahua, pūrere whakaahua
  • mīhini whakaahuamachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • pūrere whakaahuamachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Norwegian Bokmål kopimaskin, kopieringsmaskin
  • kopimaskinmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • kopieringsmaskinmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Polish kserokopiarka, fotokopiarka
  • kserokopiarkamachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • fotokopiarkamachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • kserografmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • kseromachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Portuguese xerox, copiadora
  • xeroxmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • copiadoramachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Romanian fotocopiator
  • fotocopiatormachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Russian фотокопирова́льное устро́йство, копирова́льный аппара́т
  • фотокопирова́льное устро́йство (fotokopiroválʹnoje ustrójstvo)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • копирова́льный аппара́т (kopiroválʹnyj apparát)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • ксе́рокс (kséroks)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • копи́р (kopír)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Slovak kopírka
  • kopírkamachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Spanish fotocopiadora, copiadora
  • fotocopiadoramachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • copiadoramachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Swahili kirudufu
  • kirudufumachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Swedish kopiator, kopieringsapparat
  • kopiatormachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • kopieringsapparatmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • kopieringsmaskinmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • fotostatmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Thai เครื่องถ่ายเอกสาร
  • เครื่องถ่ายเอกสาร (krʉ̂ʉang-tàai-èek-gà-sǎan)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Turkish fotokopi makinesi
  • fotokopi makinesimachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Ukrainian копіюва́льний апара́т, копі́р
  • копіюва́льний апара́т (kopijuválʹnyj aparát)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • копі́р (kopír)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • ксе́рокс (kséroks)machine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Vietnamese máy sao chụp, máy sao chụp tự động
  • máy sao chụpmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • máy sao chụp tự độngmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • máy sao chụp tài liệumachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Welsh llungopïwr, peiriant llungopïo
  • llungopïwrmachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
  • peiriant llungopïomachine which reproduces documents by photographing the original over a glass plate and printing duplicates
Cite this entry
APA

photocopier. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/photocopier

MLA

“photocopier.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/photocopier. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “photocopier,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/photocopier.

Source: photocopier on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.