Graphics

How to spell graphics

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce graphics

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does graphics mean?

1. nounVisual images, diagrams, or designs, especially those produced or displayed by a computer.

Graphics in a sentence

• The new game has impressive graphics and smooth animation.

• The design team handled the graphics for the company brochure.

Where does graphics come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word traces back to the Greek graphein, which meant 'to write, scratch, or draw', and the related adjective graphikos, meaning 'of or for writing or drawing'. Latin took this in as graphicus, and English picked up 'graphic' in the 1600s to describe things related to drawing or vivid description. The plural-shaped noun 'graphics' is much more recent, becoming common in the twentieth century to name the visual imagery produced by an artist, a printing process, and later a computer. The same Greek graphein root sits inside a whole family of everyday words, including 'autograph', 'photograph', and 'biography', which is a useful reminder that the tricky 'ph' in graphics is spelling the Greek sound that English writes as 'ph' rather than 'f'.

How the word is built

• graph (from Greek graphein: to write or draw)
• -ic (relating to)
• -s (plural/noun forming)