Xerograph

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A process of making copies of documents using a dry photocopying technique that utilizes light and electrostatic charges to transfer toner onto paper
2. A method of reproduction that employs light to create images on paper through the use of a photoelectric process and dry ink powder
3. The technology involved in producing duplicate documents by employing a light-sensitive surface and powdered ink to create prints without the use of liquid chemicals

Etymology: Xerography is the process behind photocopying, and its name is built from two Greek elements: "xeros," meaning "dry," and "-graphia," meaning "writing" or "drawing." The "dry" refers to the fact that the process uses fine powder rather than liquid ink, which set it apart from earlier copying methods that relied on wet chemistry. The compound's logic is simple, but the sense it names is a twentieth-century invention. The Greek roots existed for millennia in words like "graphein," the source of English "graph," yet nothing in ancient Greek described a machine that fixed powdered ink to paper with light. The term was coined to label that new technology, so the word tells you exactly what the process does: it writes dry.

Synonyms: xerography