camera

1
[ kam-er-uh, kam-ruh ]
See synonyms for camera on Thesaurus.com
noun,

  1. a device for capturing a photographic image or recording a video, using film or digital memory.

  2. (in a television transmitting apparatus) the device in which the picture to be televised is formed before it is changed into electric impulses.

adjective

  1. Printing. camera-ready.

Idioms about camera

  1. off camera,

    • out of the range of a video camera, as a television or motion picture camera: The stunt woman was waiting just off camera for her cue to enter the scene.

    • (of an actor) in one’s private rather than professional life: The two co-stars are best friends off camera.

  2. on camera, being filmed or televised by a live camera: Be sure to look alert when you are on camera.

Origin of camera

1
First recorded in 1730–40; shortening of camera obscura; 1840-45 for def. 1; utimately from Latin camera “vaulted room, vault”; see camera2

Other definitions for camera (2 of 2)

camera2
[ kam-er-uh ]
noun,plural cam·er·ae [kam-uh-ree]. /ˈkæm ə ri/.

  1. a judge's private office.

Origin of camera

2
First recorded in 1630–40; for earlier sense “vaulted room,” from Latin, from Greek kamára “vault, vaulted room”; see chamber

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use camera in a sentence

  • There were dozens of cameras snapping and the whole effect was distinctly festive in appearance.

    In Africa | John T. McCutcheon

  • Cameras clicked and the moving picture machine worked busily as the balloon was secured to earth again.

    In Africa | John T. McCutcheon

  • All sorts and conditions of men armed with pads, pencils, motion-picture cameras, still cameras.

    My Wonderful Visit | Charlie Chaplin

  • Three inches is the separation of the lenses in stereoscopic cameras and the negatives made as above will be the same.

  • I must show that before cameras I am very much of a person, and I take the initiative with the lens peepers.

    My Wonderful Visit | Charlie Chaplin

British Dictionary definitions for camera

camera

/ (ˈkæmərə, ˈkæmrə) /

noun

  1. an optical device consisting of a lens system set in a light-proof construction inside which a light-sensitive film or plate can be positioned: See also cine camera, digital camera

  2. television the equipment used to convert the optical image of a scene into the corresponding electrical signals

  1. See camera obscura

  2. plural -erae (-əˌriː) a judge's private room

  3. in camera

    • law relating to a hearing from which members of the public are excluded

    • in private

  4. off camera not within an area being filmed

  5. on camera (esp of an actor) being filmed

Origin of camera

1
C18: from Latin: vault, from Greek kamara

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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