cinematograph

noun

cin·​e·​mat·​o·​graph ˌsi-nə-ˈma-tə-ˌgraf 

chiefly British

: a motion-picture camera, projector, theater, or show

Examples of cinematograph in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Frémaux, who runs the Institute, gave the crowd a taste of what fresh restorations can do for cinema by showing a selection of the very first films shot by the Lumière Brothers, the inventors of the cinematograph, who give their name to the Institute and the festival. —Lise Pedersen, Variety, 15 Oct. 2023

Graphic and photographic processes are explained, as well as early cinema, from optical toys to photographic inventions, to the Lumière brothers’ cinematograph. —The Courier-Journal, 1 Mar. 2023

The hucksters who made a living projecting the cinematograph on a sheet in 1905, in Rivington Street, went west and became known as Mayer, Goldwyn, Laemmle, Warner, and Fox. —David Mamet, National Review, 3 Mar. 2022

Institut Lumière Film lovers won’t want to miss out on Institut Lumière, a museum that pays homage to brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière, the inventors of the cinematograph. —Christina Liao, Vogue, 21 Aug. 2017

Word History

Etymology

French cinématographe, from Greek kinēmat-, kinēma movement (from kinein to move) + French -o- + -graphe -graph — more at -kinesis

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

cinematograph

noun

cin·​e·​mat·​o·​graph ˌsin-ə-ˈmat-ə-ˌgraf 

: a visual record obtained by cinematography

cinematographs of the spontaneously fibrillating auricle

—Journal of the American Medical Association