camera obscura
noun
cam·era ob·scu·ra
ˈkam-rə-əb-ˈskyu̇r-ə 
ˈka-mə-rə-
: a darkened enclosure having an aperture usually provided with a lens through which light from external objects enters to form an image of the objects on the opposite surface
Examples of camera obscura in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Nicolaus Copernicus observed this phenomenon through a camera obscura, which, along with other observations, helped explain that the sun, not the Earth, was at the center of our planetary system.
—
Geraldine Castro, WIRED, 6 Apr. 2024
Mattel courts toy-shopping parents with sustainable products To a child, a box can be a doll’s house or a rocket ship, a camera obscura or a magic carpet sailing down the concrete slides in Golden Gate Park.
—Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2023
Williams built a frame over the hole where the camera obscura had been, providing a spot for Fortuna’s pedestal.
—Sam Whiting, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 Mar. 2023
At 18, Weber built a camera obscura, or pinhole camera, at home to test whether Vermeer might have used one.
—Nick Glass, CNN, 9 Feb. 2023
Long story short, this was the work that really established the idea that sight relies on rays of light stretching from objects to the eye, as well as introducing the camera obscura and discussing the physical mechanism of sight.
—Sean Carroll, Discover Magazine, 8 Jan. 2011
The museum’s researchers, however, said the brushstrokes contained no evidence of a link to the camera obscura, a type of pinhole camera.
—Zachary Small, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2022
Making a portable camera obscura was, for Morell, a breakthrough comparable to the invention of paint tubes in the late 18th century.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2022
Nights are lost to flitting thoughts or memories, like a camera obscura forcing me to sit through every triggering event of my life.
—Maybelle Morgan, refinery29.com, 11 Aug. 2022
Geraldine Castro, WIRED, 6 Apr. 2024
Mattel courts toy-shopping parents with sustainable products To a child, a box can be a doll’s house or a rocket ship, a camera obscura or a magic carpet sailing down the concrete slides in Golden Gate Park.
—Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2023
Williams built a frame over the hole where the camera obscura had been, providing a spot for Fortuna’s pedestal.
—Sam Whiting, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 Mar. 2023
At 18, Weber built a camera obscura, or pinhole camera, at home to test whether Vermeer might have used one.
—Nick Glass, CNN, 9 Feb. 2023
Long story short, this was the work that really established the idea that sight relies on rays of light stretching from objects to the eye, as well as introducing the camera obscura and discussing the physical mechanism of sight.
—Sean Carroll, Discover Magazine, 8 Jan. 2011
The museum’s researchers, however, said the brushstrokes contained no evidence of a link to the camera obscura, a type of pinhole camera.
—Zachary Small, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2022
Making a portable camera obscura was, for Morell, a breakthrough comparable to the invention of paint tubes in the late 18th century.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2022
Nights are lost to flitting thoughts or memories, like a camera obscura forcing me to sit through every triggering event of my life.
—Maybelle Morgan, refinery29.com, 11 Aug. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'camera obscura.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Camera obscura.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/camera%20obscura. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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