Etymologically
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camera

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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

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