laser

See also: Laser, LASER, láser, làser, läser, Läser, and låser

English

Red, green, and blue lasers

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *lewk-der.

Proto-Germanic *leuhtaz

Proto-West Germanic *leuht

Old English lēoht

Middle English light

English light

Latin amplus

Latin -ficō

Latin amplificō

Latin -tiō

Latin amplificātiōlbor.

English amplification

English stimulate

English -ed

English stimulated

English emission

English radiation

English LASER

English laser

From LASER, acronym of light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Coined by American physicist Gordon Gould in 1957. Originally called an optical maser.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈleɪz.ə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈleɪzɚ/
• Rhymes: -eɪzə(ɹ)

Noun

Laser modules

laser (countable and uncountable, plural lasers)

1. A device that produces a monochromatic, coherent beam of light.
2. A beam of light produced by such a device; a laser beam.
3. A laser printer.
   • 2004 May 18, PC Mag, volume 23, number 9, page 117:

     The bad news is that nearly every color laser is too big to share a desk with comfortably.

4. (uncountable, medicine) Ellipsis of laser hair removal.

   I've still got a few more sessions of laser to get rid of the rest of my facial hair.

Synonyms

• LASER (acronym of light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation)
• optical maser, optical MASER

Derived terms

• antilaser
• atom laser
• biolaser
• chemical laser
• CO2 laser
• diodelaser
• endolaser
• excimer laser
• femtolaser
• fiber laser
• gyrolaser
• iraser
• lase
• laserable
• laser beam
• laserbrain
• laser card
• laser cooling
• laser copier
• laser diode
• laser disc
• Laserdisc
• laser disk
• laser eye surgery
• laser focus
• laser-focused
• laser-gun
• laser gun
• lasergun
• laser harp
• laserist
• laserless
• laserlike
• laser-like
• laser pen
• laser-plasma accelerator
• laser pointer
• laser printer
• laserproof
• laserpuncture
• laser rot
• laser surgery
• laser tag
• laser typeset
• laser typesetting
• laserwort
• LASIK
• maser
• microlaser
• MOPA laser
• multilaser
• nanolaser
• Newton's flaming laser sword
• Newton's laser sword
• nonlaser
• quantum cascade laser
• Raman laser
• ring laser
• superlaser
• uvaser
• xaser

Translations

device producing beam of light

• Albanian: lazer m
• Arabic: لَيْزِر m (layzir)
• Armenian: լազեր (hy) (lazer)
• Azerbaijani: lazer
• Basque: laser (eu)
• Belarusian: ла́зер m (lázjer)
• Bengali: লেজার (bn) (lejar)
• Bulgarian: ла́зер m (lázer)
• Burmese: လေဆာ (lehca)
• Catalan: làser (ca) m
• Cebuano: laser
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 激光 (gik¹ gwong¹), 雷射 (leoi⁴ se⁶), 鐳射 / 镭射 (leoi⁴ se⁶)

  Hakka: 雷射 (lùi-sa)

  Hokkien: 雷射 (zh-min-nan) (lûi-siā)

  Mandarin: 激光 (zh) (jīguāng) (chiefly mainland China), 雷射 (zh) (léishè) (Taiwan), 鐳射 / 镭射 (zh) (léishè) (chiefly Taiwan)

• Czech: laser (cs) m
• Danish: laser c
• Dutch: laser (nl)
• Esperanto: lasero
• Estonian: laser (et)
• Finnish: laser (fi)
• French: laser (fr) m
• Georgian: ლაზერი (lazeri)
• German: Laser (de) m
• Greek: λέιζερ (el) (léizer)
• Hebrew: לייזר \ לֵיְזֶר (he) m (léizer)
• Hindi: लेज़र (lezar), लेसर (lesar), लाजार (lājār)
• Hungarian: lézer (hu)
• Icelandic: leysir m, leysigeisli m
• Ido: lasero (io)
• Indonesian: laser (id)
• Italian: laser (it) m
• Japanese: レーザー (ja) (rēzā)
• Kazakh: лазер (lazer)
• Khmer: ឧបករណ៍លេហ្សឺ (u'pa'kɑɑ leizəɨ)
• Korean: 레이저 (ko) (reijeo)
• Kyrgyz: лазер (ky) (lazer)
• Latvian: lāzers m
• Lithuanian: lazeris m
• Macedonian: ла́сер m (láser)
• Malay: laser
• Marathi: लेझर m (lejhar)
• Mongolian: лазер (mn) (lazer)
• Norman: laseux m
• Norwegian: laser m
• Persian: لیزر (fa) (leyzer)
• Polish: laser (pl) m
• Portuguese: laser (pt) m, lêiser (pt) m
• Romanian: laser (ro) n
• Russian: ла́зер (ru) m (lázer)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ласер m

  Roman: laser m

• Sinhalese: ලේසර් (lēsar)
• Spanish: láser (es) m
• Swedish: laser (sv) c
• Tajik: лазер (lazer)
• Thai: เลเซอร์ (th) (lee-sə̂ə)
• Turkish: lazer (tr)
• Turkmen: lazer
• Ukrainian: ла́зер m (lázer)
• Urdu: لیزر (lezar)
• Uzbek: lazer (uz)
• Vietnamese: la-de (vi), kích quang (激光)
• Volapük: laser
• Yiddish: לאַזער m (lazer)

laser beam — see laser beam

laser printer — see laser printer

See also

• Taser

Verb

laser (third-person singular simple present lasers, present participle lasering, simple past and past participle lasered)

1. (transitive) To cut, destroy or treat with a laser.

   I'm having my eyes lasered to correct my astigmatism.

2. (sports, informal, transitive) To throw or kick with laser-like precision.
   • 2009 February 2, Dave Perkins, “Steelers tiptoe past Cards”, in Toronto Star‎^[1]:

     None was any more sensational than No.6, a fantastic 27-23 last-gasp win over the Arizona Cardinals, cemented by a brilliant toe-sticking TD catch by Santonio Holmes in the back of the end zone with 35 seconds remaining on a pass lasered by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Derived terms

• laser in on

Etymology 2

From Latin laser.

Alternative forms

• lasar

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈleɪs.ə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -eɪsə(ɹ)
• Homophone: lacer

Noun

laser (plural lasers)

2. A gum resin obtained from certain umbelliferous plants.
3. Such a plant.

Related terms

• laserpicium
• Laserpithium

See also

• silphium, silfium, silphion

Anagrams

• Searl, seral, reals, Sarel, ALSer, Lares, 'rales, Earls, arles, rales, Arles, Arels, saler, lares, earls, lears, arsle

Basque

Noun

laser inan

1. laser

Declension

Declension of laser (inanimate, ending in -r)

	indefinite	singular	plural
absolutive	laser	laserra	laserrak
ergative	laserrek	laserrak	laserrek
dative	laserri	laserrari	laserrei
genitive	laserren	laserraren	laserren
comitative	laserrekin	laserrarekin	laserrekin
causative	laserrengatik	laserrarengatik	laserrengatik
benefactive	laserrentzat	laserrarentzat	laserrentzat
instrumental	laserrez	laserraz	laserrez
inessive	laserretan	laserrean	laserretan
locative	laserretako	laserreko	laserretako
allative	laserretara	laserrera	laserretara
terminative	laserretaraino	laserreraino	laserretaraino
directive	laserretarantz	laserrerantz	laserretarantz
destinative	laserretarako	laserrerako	laserretarako
ablative	laserretatik	laserretik	laserretatik
partitive	laserrik	—	—
prolative	lasertzat	—	—

Cebuano

Etymology

From English laser.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: la‧ser

Noun

laser

1. a device that produces laser
2. a laser beam

Chinese

Etymology

From English laser.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lei¹ saa²

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: lei¹ saa²
    • Yale: lēi sá
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lei¹ saa²
    • Guangdong Romanization: léi¹ sa²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lei̯⁵⁵ saː³⁵/

Noun

laser

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) laser beam
2. (Hong Kong Cantonese) beauty treatment that involves using laser

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 激光 (“laser”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		激光 Mainland China, Hong Kong, 雷射 Taiwan, Hong Kong, 萊塞 dated in Mainland China
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	雷射
	Singapore	雷射
Cantonese	Guangzhou	雷射, 激光
	Hong Kong	雷射, 激光, laser
Hakka	Meixian	雷射
	Huizhou (Huicheng; Bendihua)	雷射
Southern Min	Xiamen	激光
	Quanzhou	激光
	Zhangzhou	激光
	Tainan	雷射
	Shantou	激光
Wu	Shanghai	激光
Note	雷射 is also written 鐳射.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛjzr̩]

Noun

laser m inan

1. laser (source of light)

Declension

Declension of laser (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	laser	lasery
genitive	laseru	laserů
dative	laseru	laserům
accusative	laser	lasery
vocative	lasere	lasery
locative	laseru	laserech
instrumental	laserem	lasery

Derived terms

• laserový

Further reading

• “laser”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “laser”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “laser”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Danish

Etymology 1

From English laser.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛjsər/, [ˈlɛɪ̯sɐ] or IPA^(key): /laːsər/, [ˈlæːsɐ]

Noun

laser c (singular definite laseren, plural indefinite lasere)

1. laser [from 1964]

Inflection

Declension of laser

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	laser	laseren	lasere	laserne
genitive	lasers	laserens	laseres	lasernes

Etymology 2

See las (“rag, shred”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laːsər/, [ˈlæːsɐ]

Noun

laser c

1. indefinite plural of las

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English laser.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈleː.zər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: la‧ser
• Rhymes: -eːzər
• Homophone: lezer

Noun

laser m (plural lasers, diminutive lasertje n)

1. laser (monochromatic, coherent beam of light)
2. laser (device producing a monochromatic, coherent beam of light)
3. Laser (dinghy)

Derived terms

• laserpen
• laserpistool
• laserpointer
• laserprinter
• laserscanner
• laserstraal

Finnish

Alternative forms

• laaser, laaseri, laseri

Etymology

From English laser.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɑ(ː)ser/, [ˈlɑ̝(ː)s̠e̞r]
• IPA^(key): /ˈlɑ(ː)seri/, [ˈlɑ̝(ː)s̠e̞ri]
• Rhymes: -ɑser, -ɑːser (pronunciation 1)
• Rhymes: -ɑseri, -ɑːseri (pronunciation 2)
• Syllabification^(key): la‧ser
• Hyphenation^(key): la‧ser

Noun

laser

1. laser

Declension

Inflection of laser (Kotus type 6/paperi, no gradation)
nominative		laser	laserit
genitive		laserin	laserien lasereiden lasereitten
partitive		laseria	lasereita lasereja
illative		laseriin	lasereihin
		singular	plural
nominative		laser	laserit
accusative	nom.	laser	laserit
	gen.	laserin
genitive		laserin	laserien lasereiden lasereitten
partitive		laseria	lasereita lasereja
inessive		laserissa	lasereissa
elative		laserista	lasereista
illative		laseriin	lasereihin
adessive		laserilla	lasereilla
ablative		laserilta	lasereilta
allative		laserille	lasereille
essive		laserina	lasereina
translative		laseriksi	lasereiksi
abessive		laseritta	lasereitta
instructive		—	laserein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of laser (Kotus type 6/paperi, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative laserini laserini accusative nom. laserini laserini gen. laserini genitive laserini laserieni lasereideni lasereitteni partitive laseriani lasereitani laserejani inessive laserissani lasereissani elative laseristani lasereistani illative laseriini lasereihini adessive laserillani lasereillani ablative laseriltani lasereiltani allative laserilleni lasereilleni essive laserinani lasereinani translative laserikseni lasereikseni abessive laserittani lasereittani instructive — — comitative — lasereineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative laserisi laserisi accusative nom. laserisi laserisi gen. laserisi genitive laserisi laseriesi lasereidesi lasereittesi partitive laseriasi lasereitasi laserejasi inessive laserissasi lasereissasi elative laseristasi lasereistasi illative laseriisi lasereihisi adessive laserillasi lasereillasi ablative laseriltasi lasereiltasi allative laserillesi lasereillesi essive laserinasi lasereinasi translative laseriksesi lasereiksesi abessive laserittasi lasereittasi instructive — — comitative — lasereinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative laserimme laserimme accusative nom. laserimme laserimme gen. laserimme genitive laserimme laseriemme lasereidemme lasereittemme partitive laseriamme lasereitamme laserejamme inessive laserissamme lasereissamme elative laseristamme lasereistamme illative laseriimme lasereihimme adessive laserillamme lasereillamme ablative laseriltamme lasereiltamme allative laserillemme lasereillemme essive laserinamme lasereinamme translative laseriksemme lasereiksemme abessive laserittamme lasereittamme instructive — — comitative — lasereinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative laserinne laserinne accusative nom. laserinne laserinne gen. laserinne genitive laserinne laserienne lasereidenne lasereittenne partitive laserianne lasereitanne laserejanne inessive laserissanne lasereissanne elative laseristanne lasereistanne illative laseriinne lasereihinne adessive laserillanne lasereillanne ablative laseriltanne lasereiltanne allative laserillenne lasereillenne essive laserinanne lasereinanne translative laseriksenne lasereiksenne abessive laserittanne lasereittanne instructive — — comitative — lasereinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative laserinsa laserinsa accusative nom. laserinsa laserinsa gen. laserinsa genitive laserinsa laseriensa lasereidensa lasereittensa partitive laseriaan laseriansa lasereitaan laserejaan lasereitansa laserejansa inessive laserissaan laserissansa lasereissaan lasereissansa elative laseristaan laseristansa lasereistaan lasereistansa illative laseriinsa lasereihinsa adessive laserillaan laserillansa lasereillaan lasereillansa ablative laseriltaan laseriltansa lasereiltaan lasereiltansa allative laserilleen laserillensa lasereilleen lasereillensa essive laserinaan laserinansa lasereinaan lasereinansa translative laserikseen laseriksensa lasereikseen lasereiksensa abessive laserittaan laserittansa lasereittaan lasereittansa instructive — — comitative — lasereineen lasereinensa

Derived terms

• laseroida

compounds

• laserase
• laseretäisyysmittari
• laserhoito
• laserindusoitu
• laserkarvanpoisto
• laserkeilain
• laserkeilaus
• laserkirjoitin
• laserkirurgia
• laserlaite
• laserleikkaus
• laserlevy
• lasermitta
• lasermittari
• laserosoitin
• laserprintteri
• lasersoitin
• lasersota
• lasersäde
• lasersäteily
• lasertekniikka
• lasertuloste
• lasertulostin
• lasertähtäin
• laservalo
• pulssilaser
• suurteholaser
• värilaser

Further reading

• “laser”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Anagrams

• resla

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la.zɛʁ/

Etymology 1

From Latin laser.

Noun

laser m (plural lasers)

1. laser (umbelliferous plant)

Etymology 2

From English laser.

Noun

laser m (plural lasers)

1. (physics) laser

Derived terms

• sabre laser

Further reading

• “laser”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Etymology 3

Verb

laser

1. (physics) to laser

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English laser.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈla.zer/
• Rhymes: -azer
• Hyphenation: là‧ser

Noun

laser m (invariable)

1. (physics) laser

Derived terms

• spada laser

Latin

Alternative forms

• lāsar

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

lāser n (genitive lāseris); third declension

1. the juice of the plant laserpitium, asafoetida

   Laser e silphio profluens.

   The flowing juice from the silphium.

   Cuius sucus laser vocatur.

   Whose juice is called the juice of the laserpitium.

2. (botany) the plant laserpitium itself

   Lasaris radix.

   The root of the laserpitium.

3. (New Latin) A device that produces laser
4. (New Latin) The laser beam.

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	lāser	lāsera
genitive	lāseris	lāserum
dative	lāserī	lāseribus
accusative	lāser	lāsera
ablative	lāsere	lāseribus
vocative	lāser	lāsera

Derived terms

• lāserpīcium

References

• “laser”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Leo Latinus (25 December 2014). "Epistula LXXXIII". Epistulae Leoninae: 19: “… quia laseribus (*laser, -eris n. – Laser = Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) caeruleis in discum compactum multo plura data imponi possunt quam rubris.”.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English laser.

Noun

laser m (definite singular laseren, indefinite plural lasere, definite plural laserne)

1. a laser

Derived terms

• laserbehandling
• laserstråle

References

• “laser” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English laser.

Noun

laser m (definite singular laseren, indefinite plural laserar, definite plural laserane)

1. a laser

Derived terms

• laserbehandling
• laserstråle

References

• “laser” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

lasery

Etymology

Borrowed from English laser.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈla.sɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -asɛr
• Syllabification: la‧ser
• Homophone: Laser

Noun

laser m inan (related adjective laserowy)

1. laser (device that produces a monochromatic, coherent beam of light)
2. laser, laser beam (beam of light produced by such a device)
3. (cosmetics) therapeutic or cosmetic procedure performed with a laser

Declension

Declension of laser

	singular	plural
nominative	laser	lasery
genitive	lasera	laserów
dative	laserowi	laserom
accusative	laser	lasery
instrumental	laserem	laserami
locative	laserze	laserach
vocative	laserze	lasery

Derived terms

nouns

• laserofon
• laseroterapia
• laserowid
• laserówka

verbs

• laserować impf

Related terms

adverbs

• laserowo

Further reading

• laser in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• laser in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• laser in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• lêiser (uncommon)

Etymology

Borrowed from English laser.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈlej.zeʁ/ [ˈleɪ̯.zeh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈlej.zeʁ/ [ˈleɪ̯.zeh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈlej.zeɾ/ [ˈleɪ̯.zeɾ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈlej.zeʁ/ [ˈleɪ̯.zeχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈlej.zeɻ/ [ˈleɪ̯.zeɻ]

Noun

laser m (plural lasers)

1. laser (device that produces a monochromatic, coherent beam of light)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English laser or French laser.

Noun

laser n (plural lasere)

1. laser

Declension

Declension of laser

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	laser	laserul		lasere	laserele
genitive-dative	laser	laserului		lasere	laserelor
vocative	laserule			laserelor

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lâser/
• Hyphenation: la‧ser

Noun

lȁser m (Cyrillic spelling ла̏сер)

1. laser

Declension

Declension of laser

	singular	plural
nominative	laser	laseri
genitive	lasera	lasera
dative	laseru	laserima
accusative	laser	lasere
vocative	laseru	laseri
locative	laseru	laserima
instrumental	laserom	laserima

Swedish

Noun

laser c

1. a laser (device)
2. laser (as a technology)
3. a laser (laser beam)

   Synonym: laserstråle

4. a Laser (type of dinghy)

Declension

Declension of laser

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	laser	lasers
	definite	lasern	laserns
plural	indefinite	lasrar	lasrars
	definite	lasrarna	lasrarnas

Derived terms

• laserbehandling (“laser treatment”)
• lasereld (“laser fire”)
• laserpekare (“laser pointer”)
• laserpenna (“laser pen”)
• lasersikte (“laser sight”)
• laserskrivare (“laser printer”)

Related terms

• lasra (“to laser”)

References

• laser in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• laser in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• laser in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)