Radiographs

A radiograph (or plain radiograph although the word 'plain' is strictly superfluous) is the radiologist's preferred term for the static image generated following the passage of x-rays through the patient. Non-imaging clinicians and the lay population generally use the term "x-ray" to refer to a radiograph, as well as for the radiation itself; e.g. a chest radiograph is often referred to as a chest x-ray.

Radiograph is not used to describe dynamic images, which are usually referred to as fluoroscopic images.

Soon after the discovery of x-rays many terms were suggested and used for the radiograph, some of which were later discarded. These include:

• cathodagraph
• film (e.g. "chest film")
• plain film
• plain x-ray
• radiogram
• roentgenogram/roentgenograph
• skiagram/skiagraph
• x-ray
• x-ray film
• x-ray image
• x-ray photograph 

Radiograph is also used as a transitive verb, i.e. to take a radiograph of someone or something (as is x-ray).

History and etymology

Radiograph was first recorded in print as a word in 1896 .

Radiograph derives from Classical roots: "radio-" used as a prefix, is from the Latin word "radius", meaning a ray, and "-graphy" meaning writing or recording something, from the Ancient Greek, graphein (γραφειν) meaning to write .