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Laser

2 stages from American English to English.

Today it means a device that emits an intense narrow beam of coherent light

Where does the word "laser" come from? It comes from American English maser, adopted directly into English (1960).

1
Stage 1 of 2
maser
American English · 1954
"microwave amplifier"
Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation; Charles Townes and colleagues built the first maser at Columbia University in 1954, on principles Einstein described in 1917
2
Stage 2 of 2
laser
American English · 1960
"coherent light beam device"
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, a term Gordon Gould wrote in his notebook in 1957; Theodore Maiman fired the first working laser at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu on 16 May 1960
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Laser’s story begins in American English: maser meant “microwave amplifier.” Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation; Charles Townes and colleagues built the first maser at Columbia University in 1954, on principles Einstein described in 1917. It reached English by 1960 as laser. Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, a term Gordon Gould wrote in his notebook in 1957; Theodore Maiman fired the first working laser at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu on 16 May 1960. Today, laser means a device that emits an intense narrow beam of coherent light.