# pixel
## English
### Etymology

pix (“pictures”), + el(ement); often taken to be a blend of “picture” and “element”. The ⟨x⟩ stems from the abbreviation pics being sometimes also written as pix, which has been in use since the 1880s. First attested in 1965.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpɪksəl/, /ˈpɪksɛl/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪksəl

### Noun

pixel (plural pixels)
* One of the tiny dots that make up the representation of an image in a computer's memory.
** 1965 April, Fred C. Billingsley, “Digital Video Processing at JPL”, in Eugene B. Turner, editor, Electronic Imaging Techniques I, Proceedings of SPIE, volume 3, Los Angeles:We have chosen to sample at a 500 KC rate and we define each one of these samples as a picture element or pixel. We have sampled each pixel with 6-bit accuracy which is commensurate with the signal/noise ratio and the data accuracy.
** 2015 August, Dominik Guggisberg et al., “Mechanism and control of the eye formation in cheese”, in International Dairy Journal‎, volume 47, Elsevier, →DOI, pages 118–127:In the tomographic images of the 30-day-old cheeses, the gantry had to be removed with image processing techniques: first, the binarised image (grey level larger than 10$^4$) was eroded with a disk of three pixels.
* One of the squares that make up a work of pixel art or a zoomed-in image in a computer.

#### Synonyms

* pel (rare)
* pictel (dated)
* px

#### Hyponyms

* gigapixel
* kilopixel
* macropixel
* megapixel
* micropixel
* terapixel

#### Derived terms

* dead pixel
* dixel
* peep pixels
* pixel art
* pixelated
* pixelation
* pixel hunt
* pixel hunting
* pixelization
* pixellated
* pixel peep
* pixel peeper
* pixel-perfect
* pixel pusher
* pixel shader
* pixel shifting
* pixel sorting
* pixel tracking
* pixely
* stuck pixel
* subpixel
* texel
* trixel
* voxel

#### Translations
### Verb

pixel (third-person singular simple present pixels, present participle pixeling or pixelling, simple past and past participle pixeled or pixelled)
* To create computer graphics by editing individual pixels.
** 2006, NFGMan, Character Design for Mobile Devices, page 110:Whether he's pixeling for cellphones or PCs, here is one artist who has a unique and imaginative vision.

### References

* ↑ Richard F. Lyons (2006 January) “A Brief History of ‘Pixel’”, in IS&T/SPIE Symposium on Electronic Imaging‎, San Jose
* Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “pixel”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

### Further reading

* pixel on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* plexi

## Dutch
### Etymology

Borrowed from English pixel.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpɪk.səl/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: pi‧xel

### Noun

pixel m (plural pixels, diminutive pixeltje n)
* pixel
    Synonym: beeldpunt

#### Derived terms

* megapixel
* pixelig

## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from English pixel.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pik.sɛl/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

pixel m (plural pixels)
* (computing) pixel

## Hungarian
### Etymology

Borrowed from English pixel.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈpiksɛl]
* Hyphenation: pi‧xel
* Rhymes: -ɛl

### Noun

pixel (plural pixelek)
* (computing) pixel (one of the tiny dots that make up the representation of an image in a computer's memory)

#### Derived terms

* megapixel

### References

* ↑ Tótfalusi, István. Idegenszó-tár: Idegen szavak értelmező és etimológiai szótára (’A Storehouse of Foreign Words: an explanatory and etymological dictionary of foreign words’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2005. →ISBN

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

Borrowed from English pixel, abbreviation of "picture element".

### Noun

pixel m (definite singular pixelen, indefinite plural pixeler or pixler, definite plural pixelene or pixlene)
* (computing) alternative form of piksel

#### Usage notes

The plural forms pixler and pixlene are not listed officially, but are in common use, and also occur in Danish (as pixler and pixlerne).

### References

* “pixel” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English pixel.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈpik.sew/ [ˈpik.seʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈpi.ksɛl/ [ˈpi.ksɛɫ], /ˈpi.ksɐl/ [ˈpi.ksɐɫ]

### Noun

pixel m (plural pixels or (proscribed) pixeis)
* Alternative form of píxel
** 1997, Bobbi Linkemer, Secretária eficiente, NBL Editora, →ISBN, page 118:Use um protetor de tela cuja função será desgastar cada pixel de sua tela por igual, solicitando-o alternadamente e conferindo movimentos aleatórios. Se não usar esse programa, os pontos coloridos que incidem sempre nos mesmos pixeis da tela por horas contínuas irão consumi-lo apresentando uma descoloração da tela nesses mesmos pontos.(please add an English translation of this quotation)

#### Usage notes

The prescribed adaptation of the unadapted borrowing pixel is píxel, rendering the plural píxeis. Thus, the prescribed plural of pixel is the English plural pixels instead of pixeis, since the later does not correspond to the pronunciation of the word as a paroxytone.

### References

* ↑ "plural de pixel / píxel (I)" in FLiP - Dúvida Linguística

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpiɡsel/ [ˈpiɣ̞.sel]
* Rhymes: -iɡsel
* Syllabification: pi‧xel

### Noun

pixel m (plural pixeles)
* Alternative spelling of píxel

### Further reading

* “pixel”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Swedish
### Noun

pixel c
* (computing) a pixel
    Synonym: bildpunkt

#### Declension

| | | nominative | genitive |
| singular | indefinite | pixel | pixels |
| singular | definite | pixeln | pixelns |
| plural | indefinite | pixlar | pixlars |
| plural | definite | pixlarna | pixlarnas |

### References

* pixel in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* pixel in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)