pixel

See also: Pixel and píxel

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^(key): /ˈpɪk.səl/, /ˈpɪk.sɛl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪksəl

Noun

pixel (plural pixels)

1. 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^[2], 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 10⁴) was eroded with a disk of three pixels.

2. One of the squares that make up a work of pixel art or a zoomed-in image in a computer.
3. A unit of measure used in screen displays, resolutions, and similar visual media that represents either linear measure or area.

Synonyms

• pel (rare)
• pictel (dated)
• px

Hyponyms

• gigapixel
• kilopixel
• macropixel
• megapixel
• micropixel
• terapixel

Derived terms

• biopixel
• dead pixel
• dixel
• edgel
• flixel
• interpixel
• mixel
• multipixel
• nonpixel
• peep pixels
• pixel art
• pixelate
• pixelated
• pixelation
• pixelfuck
• pixel hunt
• pixel hunting
• pixelisation
• pixelization
• pixelize
• pixellated
• pixelly
• pixelmap
• pixel peep
• pixel peeper
• pixel-perfect
• pixel pusher
• pixelscape
• pixel shader
• pixel shifting
• pixel sorting
• pixel tracking
• pixelwise
• pixely
• pixmap
• sixel
• spaxel
• stuck pixel
• subpixel
• superpixel
• texel
• trixel
• voxel

Translations

one of the tiny dots that make up the representation of an image in a computer's memory

• Arabic: بِكْسِل m (biksil)
• Belarusian: пі́ксэль m (píkselʹ)
• Catalan: píxel (ca) m
• Cherokee: ᏇᎦᏎᎵ (quegaseli)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 像素 (zh) (xiàngsù)

• Czech: pixel (cs) m
• Danish: pixel (da)
• Dutch: pixel (nl)
• Esperanto: pikselo, bildero, bildopunkto, rastrumero
• Finnish: pikseli (fi), kuvapiste
• French: pixel (fr) m
• German: Pixel (de) n, Bildpunkt m, Bildelement n
• Greek: εικονοστοιχείο (el) n (eikonostoicheío), εικονοψηφίδα (el) f (eikonopsifída)
• Hebrew: פִּיקְסֶל (he) m (piksel), פִּיקְסֶלִים m pl (pikselím)
• Hungarian: képpont (hu)
• Icelandic: díll m, myndeining f, punktur (is) m
• Italian: pixel (it) m
• Japanese: ピクセル (ja) (pikuseru), 画素 (ja) (gaso), 絵素 (ja) (eso), ドット (ja) (dotto)
• Kazakh: пиксель (piksel)
• Korean: 픽셀 (piksel), 화소(畫素) (hwaso)
• Macedonian: пи́ксел m (píksel)
• Malay: piksel
• Māori: pika, tongi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: piksel m

  Nynorsk: piksel m

• Polish: piksel (pl) m
• Portuguese: pixel (pt) m, píxel (pt) m
• Romanian: pixel m
• Russian: пи́ксель (ru) m (píkselʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: piksel (sh) m
• Sindhi: عَڪسِل (sd) f (ʻaksil)
• Spanish: píxel (es) m, pixel (es) m
• Swedish: pixel (sv) c, bildpunkt (sv) c
• Thai: พิกเซล (pík-sêo)
• Turkish: piksel (tr), gözek
• Ukrainian: пі́ксель (uk) m (píkselʹ)
• Uzbek: piksel
• Vietnamese: điểm ảnh (vi)
• Walloon: picsel

Verb

pixel (third-person singular simple present pixels, present participle (US) pixeling or (UK) pixelling, simple past and past participle (US) pixeled or (UK) pixelled)

1. 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

• Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “pixel”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Further reading

• pixel on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• plexi

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English pixel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɪk.səl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pi‧xel

Noun

pixel m (plural pixels, diminutive pixeltje n)

1. pixel

   Synonym: beeldpunt

Derived terms

• megapixel
• pixelig

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English pixel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pik.sɛl/

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

pixel m (plural pixels)

1. (computing) pixel

Hungarian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English pixel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpiksɛl]
• Hyphenation: pi‧xel
• Rhymes: -ɛl

Noun

pixel (plural pixelek)

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

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	pixel	pixelek
accusative	pixelt	pixeleket
dative	pixelnek	pixeleknek
instrumental	pixellel	pixelekkel
causal-final	pixelért	pixelekért
translative	pixellé	pixelekké
terminative	pixelig	pixelekig
essive-formal	pixelként	pixelekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	pixelben	pixelekben
superessive	pixelen	pixeleken
adessive	pixelnél	pixeleknél
illative	pixelbe	pixelekbe
sublative	pixelre	pixelekre
allative	pixelhez	pixelekhez
elative	pixelből	pixelekből
delative	pixelről	pixelekről
ablative	pixeltől	pixelektől
non-attributive possessive – singular	pixelé	pixeleké
non-attributive possessive – plural	pixeléi	pixelekéi

Possessive forms of pixel

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	pixelem	pixeljeim
2nd person sing.	pixeled	pixeljeid
3rd person sing.	pixelje	pixeljei
1st person plural	pixelünk	pixeljeink
2nd person plural	pixeletek	pixeljeitek
3rd person plural	pixeljük	pixeljeik

Derived terms

• megapixel

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)

1. (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^(key): /ˈpik.sew/ [ˈpik.seʊ̯]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈpi.ksɛl/ [ˈpi.ksɛɫ], /ˈpi.ksɐl/ [ˈpi.ksɐɫ]

Noun

pixel m (plural pixels or (proscribed) pixeis)

1. 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.

Further reading

• “pixel”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “pixel”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /piɡˈsel/ [piɣ̞ˈsel]
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: pi‧xel

Noun

pixel m (plural pixeles)

1. alternative spelling of píxel

Further reading

• “pixel”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Noun

pixel c

1. (computing) a pixel

   Synonym: bildpunkt

Declension

Declension of pixel

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

References

• “pixel”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “pixel”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)