photostat

noun

1. A (non-xerographic) photocopy made using a Photostat machine; (loosely) any photocopy, even a xerographic one.

   dated

   Near-synonyms: photocopy, xerox, xerograph, copy (all broadly synonymous)

2. The machine (essentially, a special camera) on which such a copy is made.

   historical

   Near-synonyms: photocopier, copier (both contextually synonymous); xerographer, xerox (broadly synonymous)

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.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry photostat (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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