~ 1
■ noun a device for recording visual images in the form of photographs, cinema film, or video signals.
Phrases
on (or off ) ~ while being (or not being) filmed or televised.
Derivatives
~man noun ( plural ~men ).
Word History
The two meanings of the word ~ , though apparently quite different, are closely linked historically, both deriving from Latin ~ , 'vaulted roof or chamber', also the root of English chamber . Camera entered English in the 17th century in the sense 'legislative chamber', and is still used in the phrase in ~ , now meaning 'in private chambers'; the Latin sense is also retained in names such as that of the Radcliffe Camera , the circular domed building which forms part of the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The application of the word to the device for taking photographs dates from the earliest years of photography; the precursor of the ~s of today was the ~ obscura or 'dark chamber'.
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~ 2
■ noun [in names ] a chamber or round building.
Phrases
in ~ chiefly Law in private, in particular taking place in the private chambers of a judge, with the press and public excluded.