# photostat

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. A (non-xerographic) photocopy made using a Photostat machine; (loosely) any photocopy, even a xerographic one.
2. The machine (essentially, a special camera) on which such a copy is made.

## Etymology
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.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/photostat