Phrase guide

photoelectric cell

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A transducer that generates an electric current proportional to the light intensity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: electric eye, photocell

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a transducer used to detect and measure light and other radiations

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: photoconductive cell, photocell, electric eye, magic eye

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: detector, sensor, sensing element, transducer

Narrower terms: selenium cell

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Esperanto: fotoĉelo — transducer
  • Finnish: valokenno — transducer
  • French: photocellule — transducer
  • French: cellule photoélectrique — transducer
  • Indonesian: fotosel — transducer
  • Irish: fótaichill — transducer
  • Italian: fotocella — transducer
  • Romanian: celulă fotoelectrică — transducer
  • Spanish: célula fotoeléctrica — transducer
  • Tagalog: sugadagitbing silid — transducer
  • Vietnamese: tế bào quang điện — transducer