Standard Lemma guide

photoelectric

adj · 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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  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F OW2 T OW0 IH0 L EH1 K T R IH0 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or relating to the electric effects of electromagnetic radiation, especially the ejection of an electron from a surface by a photon.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective

Meaning 2

of or pertaining to photoelectricity

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the photoelectric effect

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: photoelectrical

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bheh2- Proto-Indo-European *bhéh2os Proto-Hellenic *pháwos Ancient Greek φᾰ́ος (phắos) Ancient Greek φῶς (phôs) Ancient Greek φωτο- (phōto-)der. English photo- Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron)bor. Latin ēlectrum Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus New Latin ēlectricusbor. English electric English photoelectric From photo- + electric.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: fotoelèctric — relating to electric effects
  • Czech: fotoelektrický — relating to electric effects
  • Dutch: foto-elektrisch — relating to electric effects
  • Finnish: valosähköinen — relating to electric effects
  • French: photoélectrique — relating to electric effects
  • Greek: φωτοηλεκτρικός (fotoïlektrikós) — relating to electric effects
  • Irish: fótaileictreach — relating to electric effects
  • Italian: fotoelettrico — relating to electric effects
  • Malay: fotoelektrik — relating to electric effects
  • Polish: fotoelektryczny — relating to electric effects
  • Portuguese: fotoelétrico — relating to electric effects
  • Romanian: fotoelectric — relating to electric effects
  • Russian: фотоэлектрический (fotoelektričeskij) — relating to electric effects
  • Spanish: fotoeléctrico — relating to electric effects
  • Tagalog: sugadagitbin — relating to electric effects