Standard Lemma guide

photonics

noun · 1 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /foʊˈtɑnɪks/
  • rhymes with -ɒnɪks

1

noun

Meaning 1

The science and technology of generating and controlling photons, particularly in the visible and near infrared light spectrum.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English photon Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic Old English -as Middle English -es English -s English -ics English photonics From photon + -ics.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 光子學 /光子学 (guāngzǐxué) — science and technology of generating and controlling photons
  • Dutch: fotonica — science and technology of generating and controlling photons
  • Finnish: fotoniikka — science and technology of generating and controlling photons
  • Finnish: valotiede — science and technology of generating and controlling photons
  • French: photonique — science and technology of generating and controlling photons
  • Irish: fótónaic — science and technology of generating and controlling photons
  • Khmer: អាភាណូវិទ្យា (ar phea no vi tyea) — science and technology of generating and controlling photons
  • Korean: 광자학 (gwangjahak) — science and technology of generating and controlling photons
  • Polish: fotonika — science and technology of generating and controlling photons
  • Brazilian Portuguese: fotônica — science and technology of generating and controlling photons
  • European Portuguese: fotónica — science and technology of generating and controlling photons
  • Spanish: fotónica — science and technology of generating and controlling photons
  • Swedish: fotonik — science and technology of generating and controlling photons
  • Vietnamese: quang tử học — science and technology of generating and controlling photons
Real reading context

photonics in complete knowledge articles