photographema
To take a photograph in Latin is photographema.
photographema is used to describe the act of taking a photograph. In contexts where you might want to describe the process of making a likeness of something, you could also use the phrase effigiem facere. If you need to refer specifically to the photographic instrument or a camera, the phrase instrumentum photographicum is appropriate.
Meaning: to take a photograph (verb)
Did you know?
- If you used the phrase effigiem facere in a Roman context, you would be talking about a wax mask or a statue rather than a digital image.
- The word photographema is not an ancient Latin word, but a 'Neo-Latin' creation used by scholars to adapt Greek concepts into the Latin grammatical system.
- The word is essentially a Greek hybrid, built from 'phos' meaning 'light' and 'graphe' meaning 'drawing', literally meaning 'drawing with light'.
Example conversation
Julia and Gaius are visiting a beautiful garden.
- JuliaGai, photographema huius floris fac!Gaius, take a photo of this flower!
- GaiusCerto, Iulia, statim id facio.Certainly, Julia, I will do it immediately.
- JuliaEstne photographema bonum?Is the photo good?
- GaiusIta, imago est pulcherrima.Yes, the image is very beautiful.
