'stereograph' originates from Greek via scientific coinage, specifically from the elements 'stere(o)-' and 'graph', where 'stereos' meant 'solid' and 'graph' (from 'graphein') meant 'to write or draw'.

'stereograph' was formed in English in the 19th century as a compound of the Greek-derived combining forms 'stereo-' and '-graph'. The popularity of stereoscopic photography and viewing devices (stereoscopes/stereographs) in the mid-to-late 1800s led to the fixed English usage 'stereograph' for both the image and sometimes the viewing card or device.

Initially built from elements meaning 'solid' + 'write/draw' (literally 'solid drawing'), it came to mean specifically a photographic image or device that produces a perception of solid, three-dimensional form.