camera English · revision 2813

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1708|origins=grc καμάρα}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkæm.rə/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|camera|t=vault, arched chamber]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) in Late Latin “chamber, room”,^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[grc|καμάρα|tr=kamárā|t=anything with an arched cover, a vaulted chamber]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(Barnhart 1988) which is of uncertain origin;^(Etymonline) Barnhart relates it to Latin camur “curved” and Avestan kamarā “girdle”, from [[ine-pro|*kam-er-|t=to arch, bend]].^(Barnhart 1988) It is a doublet of [[chamber]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Old Church Slavonic komora, Lithuanian kamara and Old Irish camra are also borrowings from Latin.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An arched roof or vaulted room: 1708,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a Latin sense given in dictionaries but probably never in real use, according to the OED.^(OED 1989) Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1633.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In reference to Italy and Spain a camera was a council or legislative chamber, from 1712;^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) the Latin sense survives in the name of the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford.^(COED 2004)^(Barnhart 1988) The word was chiefly a conscious Latinism until photography made it popular.^(COED 2004) From the early 18th century it was short for Modern Latin ''camera obscura'', “dark chamber”, a box with a lens projecting images of outside objects (1668 in the OED),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the modern photographic camera, a development of it, dates from about 1840.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) It was extended to the television camera in 1928.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Camera-shy'' is from 1890 and ''cameraman'' from 1908.^(Etymonline) The legal phrase ''in camera'', “in a judge's private chambers”, is from the late 19th century.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1633 – first known use, in Merriam-Webster.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1668 – ''camera obscura''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1708 – a vaulted room.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1712 – a council chamber in Italy or Spain.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1840 – a photographic camera.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 19th century – ''in camera''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1890 – ''camera-shy''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1928 – a television camera.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A device for taking [[photograph|alt=photographs]] or recording moving images, with a lens through which light reaches a film or electronic sensor.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The part of a television or video system that converts images into electrical signals.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''in camera'': In private, especially in a judge's chambers rather than in open [[court]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The treasury department of the papal [[curia]].^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[camcorder]]

+ * [[camera-ready]]

+ * [[camera-shy]]

+ * [[cameraman]]

+ * [[cameraperson]]

+ * [[camerawoman]]

+ * [[off-camera]]

+ * [[on-camera]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cameral]]

+ * [[chamber]]

+ * [[camera obscura]]

+ * [[comrade]]

+ * [[camaraderie]]

+ * [[bicameral]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}