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

see also:

off camera on camera

Examples of camera in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Or, that some of those same city employees would set up web cameras so that hundreds of residents could watch the baby falcons grow up in their nest on a ledge outside City Hall. — Addison Wright, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026

Video snippets captured from two highway patrol officers’ cameras showed the man initially standing at a homeless encampment while holding a hammer and two nearly identical homemade weapons, each of them made with a knife affixed to the end of pole. — Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2026

However, opponents say that the information gathered by the survelliance cameras can be dangerous in the wrong hands. — Riley Moser, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026

In Little Rock, former Police Chief Heath Helton, who stepped down in May, was a strong advocate for using technology like license plate reader cameras to support the department's operations. — Daniel McFadin, Arkansas Online, 13 Aug. 2026

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
• off camera
• on 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