CAMERA Definition & Meaning

View synonyms for

camera

[kam-er-uh, kam-ruh]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a device for capturing a photographic image or recording a video, using film or digital memory.
(in a television transmitting apparatus) the device in which the picture to be televised is formed before it is changed into electric impulses.

adjective

Printing.��camera-ready.

camera

[kam-er-uh]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

plural

camerae

a judge's private office.

camera

/ ˈkæmrə, ˈkæmərə /

noun

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
television the equipment used to convert the optical image of a scene into the corresponding electrical signals
See camera obscura
a judge's private room
1. law relating to a hearing from which members of the public are excluded
2. in private
not within an area being filmed
(esp of an actor) being filmed

Discover More

51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of camera¹

First recorded in 1730–40; shortening of camera obscura ( def. ); 1840-45 camera ¹ for def. 1; utimately from Latin camera “vaulted room, vault”; see camera ² ( def. )

Origin of camera²

First recorded in 1630–40; for earlier sense “vaulted room,” from Latin, from Greek �첹��á�� “vault, vaulted room”; see chamber ( def. )

Discover More

51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of camera¹

C18: from Latin: vault, from Greek kamara

Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

on camera, being filmed or televised by a live camera.
Be sure to look alert when you are on camera.
off camera,
1. 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.
2. (of an actor) in one’s private rather than professional life.
  The two co-stars are best friends off camera.
in camera,
1. Law. in the privacy of a judge's chambers.
2. privately.

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

For example, in Rotherham the council has introduced taxi cameras and a 100% pass mark requirement for safeguarding tests for drivers.

From

The series’ camera crew is in the actors’ faces so much that they have to wear medical scrubs, lest they get caught in a background shot.

From

Across the street, Frank Cervantes, 35, said he was at Chuck E. Cheese when the incident took place but watched it on video captured by his Ring camera.

From

“Millions of dollars have been spent on ranges, tracking dogs, cameras, helicopters, fancy alarms and fences, and none of it was bending the curve or making a significant inroad in reducing poaching,” Kuiper said.

From

On video captured by a security camera at the scene, the agents pull up at the open gate in a white SUV and three agents exit the car.

From

Related 51�Թ�s

camcorder��

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

cameo ware cameral

Browse