snapshot

Etymology

snap + shot

noun

1. A photograph, especially one taken quickly or in a sudden moment of opportunity.
   He carried a snapshot of his daughter.
2. A glimpse of something; a portrayal of something at a moment in time.
   The article offered a snapshot of life in that region.
   I hope you've enjoyed reading this series. As usual, it's just a snapshot because there's so much to say but only so many words can make it into print. December 2 2020, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 70
3. (computing) A file or set of files captured at a particular time, often capable of being reloaded to restore the earlier state.
   This game is so hard that I find myself taking a snapshot every few seconds in case I get killed.
4. (soccer) A quick, unplanned or unexpected shot.
   Yet Revell misjudged his promising position in the area to put his point-blank snapshot wide from only six yards out. March 2, 2011, Chris Whyatt, “Arsenal 5 - 0 Leyton Orient”, in BBC
5. (firearms) A quick offhand shot, made without deliberately taking aim over the sights.
   How quick the eye and hand to catch him [the ruffed grouse] when he rises from the underbrush and is out of sight in the wood before the untrained sportsman stops him with what is little more than a snapshot, so instantaneously must all be done! 1892, Stanley Waterloo, A Man and a Woman

verb

1. (transitive) To take a photograph of.
   As he did not appear disposed to move off, I took my camera and approached within about thirty yards, when I snapshotted him. 1904, David T Hanbury, Sport and Travel in the Northland of Canada
2. (transitive, computing) To capture the state of, in a snapshot.
   Filer appliances also offer programmatic snapshotting and cloning at the block-level or file system-level. 2007, David E. Irwin, An Operating System Architecture for Networked Server Infrastructure, page 30