cambern.
/ˈkambə/, U.S. /ˈkæmbər/ 1.
a. The condition of being slightly arched or convex above. Also concrete a flattened arch.
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the world > space > shape > curvature > types of curvature > [noun] > slightly upwards in the middle
cambera1618
cambering1758
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > arch > [noun] > other types of arch
bowOE
craba1387
cove1511
triumphal arch (arc)a1566
straight arch1663
pointed arch1688
rough arch1693
jack-arch1700
oxi1700
raking arch1711
flat arch1715
scheme-arch1725
counter-arch1726
ox-eye arch1736
surbased dome1763
ogee1800
rising arch1809
sub-arch1811
deaf arch1815
four-centred arch1815
mixed arch1815
Tudor arch1815
camber1823
lancet arch1823
invert1827
platband1828
pier arch1835
ogive1841
scoinson arch1842
segment1845
skew arch1845
drop-arch1848
equilateral arch1848
lancet1848
rear arch1848
straining-arch1848
tierceron1851
shouldered arch1853
archlet1862
segment-arch1887
a1618 [see camber-keeled adj. at Compounds].
1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 220 Camber..the convexity of a beam upon the upper edge, in order to prevent its becoming straight or concave by its own weight, or by the burden it may have to sustain, in course of time.
1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 582 Camber; an arch on the top of an aperture, or on the top of a beam; whence Camber-windows, &c.
1867 W. Papworth Gwilt's Encycl. Archit. (rev. ed.) ii. i. 437 If the required rise or camber [in a riveted girder] equals e in the middle in inches.
1881 Times 11 Apr. 10/5 Boatbuilders insist on giving ‘camber’.
b. The transverse arch of the surface of a road.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > parts of road > [noun] > surface > arch of surface
hogging1860
camber1905
1905 Westm. Gaz. 13 Oct. 2/7 Another suggestion is that the ‘camber’ (i.e., the upward curve) of roadways should be lessened.
1907 Westm. Gaz. 30 July 8/1 The heavy camber of the sides..is the cause of very many mishaps.
1925 Public Opinion 11 Dec. 588/2 Hodge has always allowed his horse to take the top of the camber.
c. The curvature of the wings of an aeroplane. Also attributive.
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society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > parts of aircraft > [noun] > plane or aerofoil > wing > curvature
camber1910
1910 R. Ferris How it Flies xx. 456 Camber, the distance from the chord of the curve of a surface to the highest point of that curve, measured at right angles to the chord.
1916 H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks 5 I must have a certain chord to make it possible for my Camber (that's curvature) to be just right for the Angle of Incidence.
1935 K. D. Wood Techn. Aerodynamics ii. 52 The shape of the median camber line of the variable-density-tunnel series is nearly the same as for other good airfoils.
1935 K. D. Wood Techn. Aerodynamics ii. 53 The maximum median camber must next be located relative to the line through the leading and trailing edges.
d. Automobile Engineering. (See quot. 19592.)
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > steering, suspension, or wheels > road wheel by which steering effected > angle of
camber1936
1936 Motor Man. (ed. 29) vii. 121 How a steering head is set to give castor action and camber.
1936 Motor Man. (ed. 29) vii. 121 The point..is thrust forward by the slope or castor angle of the king pin and slightly to one side according to the camber chosen for the wheel and pin.
1959 Motor Man. (ed. 36) v. 102 Each steering swivel..is also given..a camber angle so that its axis, when viewed from the front, meets the road at a point..close to the centre line of the wheel.
1959 Motor 2 Sept. 92/1 Camber (the sideways inclination of the wheel).
2. A piece of timber so bent; a camber-beam.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > framework of building > [noun] > roof-beam
pan1284
roof-tree1321
wiverc1325
sile1338
wind-beam1374
bindbalkc1425
trave1432
purlin1439
side-waver1451
wind-balk1532
roof beam1551
post1567
crock1570
spercil1570
collar-beam1659
camber1679
top-beam1679
camber-beam1721
jack rafter1736
hammer-beam1823
tie-beam1823
spar-piece1842
viga1844
collar1858
spanner1862
cruck1898
1679 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. ix. Explan. Terms 165 Camber, a peece of Timber cut Arching.
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 102.
3. ‘The part of a dockyard where cambering is performed, and timber kept. Also, a small dock in the royal yards, for the convenience of loading and discharging timber’ (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.).
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society > travel > travel by water > berthing, mooring, or anchoring > harbour or port > [noun] > dock > parts of dock
camber1885
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > shipyard or boat-yard > [noun] > parts of shipyard or dockyard
mast-dock?1686
rigging loft1726
fitting-shop1840
camber1885
shaping-shop1890
fitting-out basin1909
1885 A. Brassey In Trades 403 Just outside the camber, [he] met us in the dockyard steam-launch.
Compounds
camber-beam n. (see quots.)
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > framework of building > [noun] > roof-beam
pan1284
roof-tree1321
wiverc1325
sile1338
wind-beam1374
bindbalkc1425
trave1432
purlin1439
side-waver1451
wind-balk1532
roof beam1551
post1567
crock1570
spercil1570
collar-beam1659
camber1679
top-beam1679
camber-beam1721
jack rafter1736
hammer-beam1823
tie-beam1823
spar-piece1842
viga1844
collar1858
spanner1862
cruck1898
1721 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. Camber-beam..is a Beam cut hollow or arching in the middle.
1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 129.
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1626 J. Smith Accidence Young Sea-men 32 To know whether she be equally bored, camber, taper, or belbored.
camber-keeled adj. (also camber-keel)
ΚΠ
a1618 W. Raleigh Observ. Royal Navy (1650) 34 It is a great weakening to a ship to have so much weight..at both the ends, and nothing in the Mid-Ship, which causeth them to warpe, and (in the Sea~phrase, and with Marriners) is tearmed Camberkeeld.
a1643 W. Monson Naval Tracts iii, in A. Churchill & J. Churchill Coll. Voy. (1704) III. 350/1 It will make the Ship Camberkeel.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Camber-keeled, keel slightly arched upwards in the middle of the length, but not actually hogged.
camber-nose n. ‘an aquiline nose’ (Halliwell, who cites ‘Junius’).
camber-slip n.
ΚΠ
1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 388 The Camber-slip is a piece of board of any length or breadth, made convex on one or both edges, and generally something less than an inch in thickness; it is made use of as a rule..When the brick~layer has drawn his arch, he gives the camber-slip to the carpenter.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† camberadj.
Obsolete.
Curved.
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the world > space > shape > curvature > [adjective]
crooked?c1225
roundc1300
ybentc1330
bentc1374
cambera1387
curvate?a1425
curve?a1425
curved?a1425
bowingc1440
crumped1480
bowed1483
bended1495
bowlanda1522
compass?1523
curbed?1541
compassed1551
compassing1576
curvated1598
orbed1598
curving1609
ridgill-backed1611
incurved1623
inflected1646
incurvate1647
curvous1661
incurvated1665
swayed1688
bending1697
circumflex1707
curval1730
sweeping1772
bendy1800
curvatureda1810
curvative1846
hooped1852
swept1903
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 353 (MED) [The Irish] dryueþ his hors wiþ a chambre ȝerde [L. Virgam..cameratam] in þe ouer ende instede of barnacles and of britels of reest.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) i. l. 1157 (MED) Mak redy..the cambur knyuys [L. cultellos..curvos].
a1460 Knyghthode & Bataile (Pembr. Cambr. 243) l. 2932 (MED) A rammys..hed theron Ther may be sette, with streght or caumber horn; On either side it may sette on our foon..adoun that thei be born.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
camberv.
/ˈkambə/, U.S. /ˈkæmbər/ 1. intransitive. To be or become slightly arched or curved so that the centre is higher than the ends.
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the world > space > shape > curvature > types of curvature > [verb (intransitive)] > be or become slightly curved upwards in middle
camber1627
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > part of vessel above water > [verb (intransitive)] > be curved (of deck)
camber1627
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > [verb (intransitive)] > droop at ends or in middle
camber1758
hog1777
sag1777
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ii. 6 The Decke doth camber or lie compassing.
1758 J. Robertson in Philos. Trans. 1757 (Royal Soc.) 50 288 Now it so happened, thro' the great weight of the head and stern, that the ship cambered very much.
2. transitive. To bend (a beam, etc.) upwards in the middle; to arch slightly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > types of curvature > [verb (transitive)] > curve upwards slightly in middle
camber1852
1852 E. Lomax & T. Gunyon Nicholson's Encycl. Archit. I. 74/2 In all these instances the difficulty may be obviated by cambering the timber upwards.
1867 W. Papworth Gwilt's Encycl. Archit. (rev. ed.) ii. i. 437 It is usual to camber a riveted girder, so that on receiving the permanent load it may become nearly horizontal.
1882 Nature 12 Jan. 247/2 At the centre of the span, where the bottom member has been cambered upwards to a height of 150 feet for navigation purposes.
Derivatives
ˈcambered adj.
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the world > space > shape > curvature > types of curvature > [adjective] > slightly upwards in the middle
chambered1480
cambered1627
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > parts of aircraft > [adjective] > types of wing
flappinga1857
cambered1909
swept-back1914
slotted1921
crustacean1928
cranked1939
unswept1946
variable sweep1954
Gothic1959
ogival1962
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ii. 6 A cambered Decke.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Cambered-deck, the deck..of a ship is said to be cambered, or to lie cambering, when it is higher in the middle of the ship's length, and droops toward the stem and stern.
1878 R. T. H. Bartley tr. P. Topinard Anthropol. ii. vi. 340 With head erect and cambered loins.
1909 Flight 20 Feb. 104/1 Cambered, this term denotes that the plane or wing has a curved transverse section.
1919 Autocar Handbk. (ed. 9) 223 When driving a car on a much-cambered or arched road.
1932 G. M. Boumphrey Story of Wheel 57 His roads were cambered (raised slightly in the middle to throw off water).
1951 W. F. Hilton High-speed Aerodynamics ii. x. 241 The 8% cambered wing would be outside the limits of accuracy at M = 10.
1967 Gloss. Mining Terms (B.S.I.) xi. 6 Cambered girder, a roof bar projecting forward to support the roof beyond the propped area.
ˈcambering n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > types of curvature > [noun] > slightly upwards in the middle
cambera1618
cambering1758
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > part of vessel above water > [adjective] > types of deck
flush1626
lower deck1709
cambering1758
1758 J. Robertson in Philos. Trans. 1757 (Royal Soc.) 50 292 The resistance of the parts bent by the cambering.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.a1618
adj.a1387
v.1627