Standard Lemma guide

photoresistor

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.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An electronic component whose resistance is inversely proportional to the intensity of incident light.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business, electrical-engineering, electricity, electromagnetism, electronics, energy, engineering, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

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- English resist Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Italic *-tōr Latin -tor Latin -ātor Old French -eorbor. Middle English -our ▲ Latin -torlbor. English -or English resistor English photoresistor From photo- + resistor.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 光敏電阻 /光敏电阻 (guāngmǐn diànzǔ) — Translations
  • German: Fotowiderstand — Translations
  • Italian: fotoresistore — Translations
  • Japanese: フォトレジスタ (fotorejisuta) — Translations
  • Māori: parenga iahiko ngoiaho — Translations
  • Polish: fotorezystor — Translations
  • Romanian: fotorezistor — Translations