camera

noun

cam·​era ˈkam-rə 

ˈka-mə-rə

1

a

: a device that consists of a lightproof chamber with an aperture fitted with a lens and a shutter through which the image of an object is projected onto a surface for recording (as on a photosensitive film or an electronic sensor) or for translation into electrical impulses (as for television broadcast)

b

: camera obscura

2

: the treasury department of the papal curia

Phrases

off camera

1

: while not being filmed by a television or movie camera

he's a different person off camera

2

: outside the scope of a television or movie camera

sounds of gunfire taking place off camera

on camera

1

: before a live television camera

go on camera

also : while being filmed by a television or movie camera

looked relaxed on camera

2

: within the scope of a television or movie camera

you can hear a dog but he never appears on camera

Examples of camera in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In addition to its wide lens camera, the doorbell has smart features like facial recognition, motion detection, and package detection to help monitor your front porch. —Jessica Comstock, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Dec. 2024

At one point, the camera cuts to Carpenter, 25, sitting poolside in a black cardigan and pants to belt out the battlecry. —Marina Watts, People.com, 2 Dec. 2024

Back on the ground, the camera observes Chris Smalls, a former Amazon employee dismissed the year before from the JFK8 fulfillment center for his activism over proper measures to protect workers from COVID. —Steve Dollar, Los Angeles Times, 2 Dec. 2024

But in the early 1800s, the invention of the camera gradually opened up that luxury to the middle class, especially as a way to memorialize important family moments, even deaths. —Erin Sagen, The Atlantic, 2 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin, room — more at chamber

First Known Use

1566, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing camera

• body camera
• box camera
• camera lucida
• camera obscura
• camera person
• camera work
• candid camera
• catch (something) on camera
• dashboard camera
• digital camera
• doorbell camera
• gamma camera
• in camera
• Schmidt camera
• security camera
• streak camera
• video camera

Kids Definition

camera

noun

cam·​era ˈkam-(ə-)rə 

1

: a judge's private office

hearings held in camera

2

: a lightproof box fitted with a lens through which the image of an object is projected onto a surface that is sensitive to light for recording (as on film) or for converting into electrical signals (as for a live television broadcast)

Etymology

from Latin camera "room, chamber"; sense 2 from the scientific Latin phrase camera obscura, literally, "dark chamber" — related to chamber