camera1
/ˈkam(ə)rə
/- The cameras will record digital images used to help police pursue action against criminals.
- The man holding the video camera turned the camera on and brought the eyepiece up to his eye.
- Fighting broke out as security men tried to stop angry guests using cameras and video recorders.
Phrases
on (or off) camera
Origin
Mid 19th century: from Latin (see camera2, camera obscura).
A camera was first a council or legislative chamber in Italy and Spain. The word is borrowed from Latin, where it meant ‘vault or chamber’, and is also the source of chamber (Middle English). In legal contexts the Latin phrase in camera is used to mean ‘in the judge's private chamber’ instead of in open court. The photography sense comes from the camera obscura (literally ‘dark chamber’), a device popular in the 18th century for recording visual images—the first example of the modern sense comes in the 1840s.
Rhymes
camera2
/ˈkam(ə)rə/- There is one camera in the south west of England that is painted with luminous strips.
- Read about a walk around the Radcliffe Camera at Oxford University, part of the Bodleian Library.
Phrases
in camera
Origin
Late 17th century (denoting a council or legislative chamber in Italy or Spain): from Latin, 'vault, arched chamber', from Greek kamara 'object with an arched cover'.