entry
laser
/ˈleɪzər/Device producing a narrow, coherent light beam
From English LASER (Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) + Latin laser (Medicinal gum-resin or its plant).
from Latin laser.
from Latin laser.
from Latin laser.
from Latin laser.
Word Ancestry
from Latin laser.
from Latin laser.
from Latin laser.
from Latin laser.
In 1957, American physicist Gordon Gould gave a spectacularly technical phrase a compact new costume: LASER, “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.” It followed the pattern of maser, an earlier device that amplified microwaves, and by 1960 Theodore Maiman had built the first working laser at Hughes Research Laboratories. The acronym soon escaped the laboratory and became a noun, then a verb: you can lase a surface, lase away a tumor, or have something lasered. But there is an older impostor lurking in the dictionary: Latin laser meant a North African medicinal gum-resin, and Old and Middle English used laser for a weed, probably cockle. So modern laser is a child of twentieth-century physics—but it shares its spelling with an ancient pharmacy jar and, possibly, a field weed.
The Story
In 1957, American physicist Gordon Gould gave a spectacularly technical phrase a compact new costume: LASER, “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.” It followed the pattern of maser, an earlier device that amplified microwaves, and by 1960 Theodore Maiman had built the first working laser at Hughes Research Laboratories. The acronym soon escaped the laboratory and became a noun, then a verb: you can lase a surface, lase away a tumor, or have something lasered. But there is an older impostor lurking in the dictionary: Latin laser meant a North African medicinal gum-resin, and Old and Middle English used laser for a weed, probably cockle. So modern laser is a child of twentieth-century physics—but it shares its spelling with an ancient pharmacy jar and, possibly, a field weed.
Modern Usage
A humorous slang term meaning “cool,” especially in deliberately dorky usage.
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entry using laser as a synonym for cool
Kin & Kindred
From 'LASER'·Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'laser'·Medicinal gum-resin or its plant
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary