Where does “photogenic” come from?
Photogenic comes from French -gène, Ancient Greek φῶς meaning light and γένος meaning race or kind, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ǵénh₁os meaning to produce or beget.
photogenic (English): Generated or caused by light; Producing or...
Definitions
- Generated or caused by light; Producing or...
Ancestry of “photogenic”, step by step
photogenic traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English genic
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | genic | of, relating to, produced by, or being a gene |
| 2 | English | -ic | Used to form adjectives from nouns with the... |
| 3 | English | image | An optical or other representation of a real... |
| 4 | French | image | picture, image; frame; first-person singular... |
| 5 | Portuguese | imagem | image; picture; figure; image; image; face |
| 6 | Spanish | imagen | image |
| 7 | Italian | immagine | image; imago |
| 8 | Latin | imāginem | — |
| 9 | Latin | im- | Alternative form of in-; form of "in"; in |
| 10 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 11 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 12 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 13 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |
via English photo
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | photo | A photograph; A photo finish; To take a... |
| 2 | English | photography | The art and technology of producing images on... |
| 3 | French | photographie | photography; photograph |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | φωτο- | — |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | φῶς | Attic form of φᾰ́ος |
| 6 | Proto-Hellenic | pʰáos | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰéh₂os | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰeh₂- | to shine, glow light; to speak, say |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰeh₂-s-ri- | — |