camera

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈka.mɛ.ra]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkaː.me.ra]^[1]

Forms

camera f (genitive camerae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek καμάρα (kamára, “vaulted chamber”),^[2][3][4] which Etymonline calls of uncertain origin.^[4] Lewis & Short compare κάμπτω (kámptō, “to bend”), and Köbler a root Proto-Indo-European *kamer- (“to vault”).^[2][5] The spelling camara is also found.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro, in his book on farming, uses it of a vaulted roof.^[2] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a vault, an arched roof or ceiling, as Sallust's vault joined with stone arches, and Cicero uses it in a letter to his brother.^[2][3][6] Pliny the Elder mentions a vault covered with glass, and Vitruvius describes how to build vaults.^[2] It was also a cabin on a ship, as in Suetonius, and a flat boat with an arched cover used on the Black Sea, as in Tacitus.^[2][6]

In medieval Latin it was any fairly small room, a chamber, and a deliberative body.^[7][1] British writers also used it figuratively of the vault of heaven.^[8] Its descendants include Italian camera and Old French chambre, the source of English chamber, recorded around 1200.^[1][4] English camera is recorded in 1708 for a vaulted building.^[4]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a vault.^[2][5]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of a vaulted chamber.^[3][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of an arched boat.^[6][5]
• c. 1200 – English chamber is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A vault, an arched roof or ceiling.^[2][1]
2. A cabin on a ship; a covered boat.^[2][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) A room, chamber; a deliberative body.^[7][1]

Word family

• camella
• concamerō

Related words

• English chamber
• English camera

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press