photostat
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photostat
Where it comes from
A genericization from the trade name of one of the earliest commercially successful types of photocopier, a pre-xerography type. Xerography displaced it in the 1960s and 1970s; since then the relics of it are historical curiosities. More in Wikipedia at Photostat machine.
noun photostats
- A (non-xerographic) photocopy made using a Photostat machine; (loosely) any photocopy, even a xerographic one. Near-synonyms: photocopy, xerox, xerograph, copy (all broadly synonymous)
- The machine (essentially, a special camera) on which such a copy is made. Near-synonyms: photocopier, copier (both contextually synonymous); xerographer, xerox (broadly synonymous)
verb photostats · photostating · photostatting · photostated · photostatted
- To make such a photocopy. Near-synonyms: photocopy, xerox, xerograph, copy (all broadly synonymous)
