Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “camera” come from?

Camera comes from Latin camera, meaning a vaulted room or chamber, which gave rise to its modern sense of a device for recording images.

camera (English): A device for taking still or moving pictures or...

Definitions

  1. A device for taking still or moving pictures or...

Ancestry of “camera”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1New Latincamera obscuradark chamber
2LatincameraA chamber in its various senses, "including";...
3Ancient GreekκαμάραAnything with an arched cover such as a covered...
4Proto-Iraniankamarā-something curved
5Proto-Iraniankamárati—
6Proto-Indo-Iranian*kmárati—
7Proto-Indo-Europeankh₂em-to bend, to curve

Words derived from “camera”

  • cam
  • cameraman
  • camshaft
  • webcam
  • camerawork
  • Steadicam
  • multicamera
  • cameraperson
  • cameraphone
  • camerawoman
  • minicam
  • cameraless
  • gastrocamera
  • cameralike
  • microcamera
  • spycam
  • cammer
  • minicamera
  • handicam
  • camstairy
  • holocamera
  • camphone
  • camwheel
  • recam
Every word from Proto-Indo-European kh₂em- →